It's absolutely remarkable how one conversation, or even a new perspective, can completely change the trajectory of your life. This conclusion is one I came to after reflecting on a conversation I had with my club coach when I was on the brink of quitting a sport that was the sole focus of my passion and what I had thought was the sole purpose of life.  This pivotal conversion occurred three years ago, when I was at a crossroads in my track journey. Meet after meet would pass, where, despite all of my hard work on and off the track, I would fail to perform. During one of these meets, my coach asked me a simple question while I was mid-anxiety. He asked, "Can you physically do better than your best today?" After pondering this odd question for a few seconds, I gave a very quiet, very hesitant "...no?" To which he simply replied, "Then just do your best and have fun." Although it took me some time to understand what he meant, I realized that over time I had let performance define my entire identity, when I would later learn my love of track and the joy I derive from it came not from results but from people and the connection that track gave me and continues to provide me with today. When it comes to the atmosphere and general people you meet through the sport, track is unlike any other. You get the opportunity to connect individually with people you would probably never speak to outside of competition. You get to meet others from all over and connect over a shared interest. Once I let go of the obsession with numbers, I regained both confidence and enjoyment in the sport. This series of developments ultimately led to an outstanding senior season, a commitment to a Division I school, and eventually an impressive debut college track season, where I landed 8th on the all-time list in the Long Jump at my institution. The impact this mindset has made extends far beyond the long jump runway. With the decentralization of performance-based worth, I explored other facets of my personality and passions I had previously put on the back burner. One in particular being my interest in politics and our legal system. I was always extremely interested, but hesitant due to my fear of not meeting the standard expected. But freeing myself from the pressure really allowed me to dive in wholeheartedly. In the future, I am excited to continue applying my purpose by engaging with people from diverse backgrounds through civil law. Above all, the greatest thing I've taken from this conversation and overall experience wasn't just what could be applied to track. It was how, with decentralizing athletic performance as the only thing that makes me special, and learning how to have fun in something I care so much about, led me to the conclusion that no matter what endeavor you're facing, it's okay not to take yourself so seriously. Whether it ends in failure or success, it's essential to reflect on experiences with a light heart and keep moving forward. With the scholarship, I'll apply the same mindset to help me continue to succeed academically and athletically, and be a good representative of Sloane Stephens and her foundation.

My freshman year of track went far differently than I had hoped. I put so much pressure on myself for constant excellence and success that track, and my performance slowly became what I thought made my life valuable. This constant fear of failure translated into competition day when I consistently failed to perform despite all the hard work I'd been doing year-round. Eventually, this constant anxiety and inability to perform at the level I knew I could pushed me to the point where, after my Sophomore year, I was one more lousy jump away from quitting. Fortunately, the summer before my junior year, I joined a new club track team and met 2 coaches who changed my perspective on my sport and even my self-worth. To sum up the impact my coaches had on me, I'll look back to a simple word of advice my coach gave me when I was mid-anxiety attack. While I was freaking out about how badly my first jump went, my coach asked me a simple question. He asked, "Can you physically do better than your best today?" After pondering this odd question for a few seconds, I gave a very quiet, very hesitant "...no?" To which he simply replied, "Then just do your best and have fun." Although I didn't fully understand the significance of that conversation, it clicked a few hours later while I was getting ready for bed. My coach was trying to tell me that I cannot physically do better than my best today. So, instead of worrying, I should rely on my training, try my best, and have fun. With that in mind and tons of trial and error during my junior year, I was finally able to come into my senior season with a new mindset and a why. I came to find out that my "why" or one of the reasons I love track is the people. When it comes to the atmosphere and general people you meet through the sport, track is unlike any other. You get the opportunity to connect individually with people you would never speak to outside of competition. You get to meet others from all over and connect over a shared interest. I found that when I focused on this during the competition, the anxiety about college, scholarships, and going D1 faded into the background. Instead of my thoughts being stuck on myself and the possible bad outcomes, I could reach out to others and connect with them. These connections helped me directly impact my competition as it allowed for the competition atmosphere to not be so cold and cutthroat all of the time. Of course, we think about winning when we're on the runway, but once we come off, we are all just friends. These fostered friendships then allowed me to partake in the celebration of other's wins and also pep talk others whenever they may've needed it. This aspect of track and this development helped transition me from the worried, shy, and anxiety-ridden freshman to the senior who could still be shy at times but carried herself with a new air of confidence and security that allowed her to thrive in high-pressure situations. It even built my confidence as my worth no longer lay with track and my performance in it. This development even allowed me to have a successful season as I finished 6th at the California State Meet and will now continue my track career at a Division 1 college.

12 years ago my parents got divorced. Despite the 50/50 custody agreement and the amount of child support to match with that, my mom kept my brother and I 30 out of the 31 days of the month. Although typically a large change for young children, it felt rather normal from my brother and I. This was simply because although, pre-divorce our dad still lived with us, he was emotionally unavailable and constantly failed to show up to our educational and athletic milestones. So although she’s only been officially considered a single mother for 12 years, she has been my brother and I’s main support for all of our lives. My mom has acted as the main parent throughout my elementary, middle school, and highschool years. She assumed the role of both mother and father while also taking on all of the pressures that come with parenting. She stayed on top of everything I was doing and needed for my classes on top of her already strenuous schedule getting me to meets, working, and, before he graduated, also taking care of my brother. Although I had never needed much of a push when striving for academic success, my mom has been there every step of the way. She’s shown up to every choir concert, track meet, and silver star ceremony. She listened to me as I jabbered on about the new topic for my politics club and listened to me retell the same stories she's already heard without complaint. She’s continued to encourage me through all of my interests. She cheered me on when I declared at 6 that I was going to be a fashion designer and have my own show at Paris fashion week. She supported me again at 12 when I wanted to be a doctor, and then once more 2 years ago when I settled on pursuing business and becoming a brand strategist. She has continued to reassure me that no matter how many times I change my future career path she’ll always be there in my corner to encourage me and provide guidance. On top of this, everyday, after long work hours, she came home and worked the “second shift” that many women have to do, alone. Every night, without fail she put dinner on the table, got both me and my brother to and from practice, helped us with our homework and got us to bed on time. She did all of this without any real assistance from my dad. Even now, as a senior in high school, I fortunately get to come home knowing my mom will have dinner ready and be there to do our evening catch-ups in the kitchen.

12 years ago my parents got divorced. Despite the 50/50 custody agreement and the amount of child support to match with that, my mom kept my brother and me 30 out of the 31 days of the month.  Although typically a large change for young children, it felt rather normal for my brother and I. This was simply because although pre-divorce our dad still lived with us, he was emotionally unavailable and constantly failed to show up to our educational and athletic milestones. So although she’s only been officially considered a single mother for 12 years, she has been my brother and I’s main supporter all of our lives. My mom has acted as the main parent throughout my elementary, middle school, and high school years. She's assumed the role of mother and father while also taking on all of the pressures that come with parenting. She stayed on top of everything I was doing and needed for my classes on top of her already strenuous schedule getting me to meets, working, and, before he graduated, also taking care of my brother.  Although I had never needed much of a push when striving for academic success, my mom has been there every step of the way. She’s shown up to every choir concert, track meet, and Silver Star ceremony. She listened to me as I jabbered on about the new topic for my politics club and listened to me retell the same stories she'd already heard without complaint.  She’s continued to encourage me through all of my interests.  She cheered me on when I declared at 6 that I was going to be a fashion designer and have my own show at Paris Fashion Week. She supported me again at 12 when I wanted to be a doctor, and then once more 2 years ago when I settled on pursuing business and becoming a brand strategist. She has continued to reassure me that no matter how many times I change my future career path she’ll always be there in my corner to encourage me and provide guidance.  On top of this, every day, after long work hours, she came home and worked the “second shift” that many women have to do, alone. Every night, without fail she put dinner on the table, got both me and my brother to and from practice, helped us with our homework, and got us to bed on time. She did all of this without any real assistance from my dad. Even now, as a senior in high school, I fortunately get to come home knowing my mom will have dinner ready and be there to do our evening catch-ups in the kitchen. With this support and comfort, my mom has been able to facilitate a calm and stable environment that allows me to complete my schoolwork and move forward onto new endeavors knowing I'll have support along the way. In the past few weeks, as the strain of senioritis gets to me a bit more each day, she's continued to be there for me as I prepare for the next phase in my life, college. She’s done all of this to support me on top of the numerous things she's already doing daily all while grappling with the emotions associated with your last child leaving the nest. For all of these reasons, I am so thankful for my mother and everything she has done for me.  She’s helped support me academically but also has been an example for me of what hard work looks like and one of the many different forms of success.

I have chose to write about Marketing, which I find incredibly interesting and is what I have chosen as my field of study when I enter my freshman year. For me, marketing is the perfect mix of psychology, consumer psychology, and creativity. It allows me to dive into the minds of current day consumers and shift brands and marketing strategies based on their interest. Marketing is also a form of manipulation, which I find highly fascinating. The idea that influence someone's desire by a picture, words, or just colors is riveting to me. I love how the human brain works and how it responds to certain exterior influences. With this field, I'd also be able to use my creativity without being concerned about getting bored because I can work on a wide variety of projects. Marketing also allows me to continue to utilize my people skills as I love to communicate and collaborate with others. I find bouncing my ideas off of others helps to grow and develop my ideas into a beautiful work of art. Currently, I am serving as the Social Media Manager with the Black Student Union at my high school. I have held this position for 2 years. I enjoy using my creativity and my unique perspective to create flyers and posts that bring attention to our Black Student Union club. I have successfully completed multiple campaigns over the last two years that have increased our club membership and the number of participants that come to our events. My favorite event that I created a marketing piece for was our fundraiser that took place at Boba Tea. I was able to combine my love of teas with a creative twist that resulted in a beautiful flyer to advertise our event. With my marketing degree, I hope to work as a Brand Strategist for a large company such as Google or Apple. I know I would do well in this position because with my analytical mind along with my people skills, I find that I would be able to evaluate a company's current position or perception and help them to make the necessary changes to better appeal to the current employees as well as the consumers.

I have chosen to go into business, specifically marketing because I find it incredibly interesting. I initially struggled a lot in the beginning to pick a field of study, mainly because of the fear that I would get bored with it and it would feel too tedious. For me, marketing is the perfect mix of psychology, consumer psychology, and creativity. It allows me to dive into the minds of current day consumers and shift brands and marketing strategies based on their interest. Marketing is also a form of manipulation, which I find highly fascinating. The idea that influence someone's desire by a picture, words, or just colors is riveting to me. I love how the human brain works and how it responds to certain exterior influences. With this field, I'd also be able to use my creativity without being concerned about getting bored because I can work on a wide variety of projects. Marketing also allows me to continue to utilize my people skills as I love to communicate and collaborate with others. I find bouncing my ideas off of others helps to grow and develop my ideas into a beautiful work of art. Currently, I am serving as the Social Media Manager with the Black Student Union at my high school. I have held this position for 2 years. I enjoy using my creativity and my unique perspective to create flyers and posts that bring attention to our Black Student Union club. I have successfully completed multiple campaigns over the last two years that have increased our club membership and the number of participants that come to our events. My favorite event that I created a marketing piece for was our fundraiser that took place at Boba Tea. I was able to combine my love of teas with a creative twist that resulted in a beautiful flyer to advertise our event. With this degree I hope to work in advertising or as a Brand Strategist for a large company such as Google or Apple. I know I would do well in this position because with my analytical mind along with my people skills, I find that I would be able to evaluate a company's current position or perception and help them to make the necessary changes to better appeal to the current employees as well as the consumers. This major would help me with this as it directly correlates with my desired positions.