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.

The ability to make a lasting impact on society through marketing goes far beyond just making money for a company. Upon first pondering the value of marketing many would likely simplify its importance in that it helps make business’ more profitable by catering to the desired audience of the product. I believe that marketing has a greater value that I can use to not only impact my local community but also our global one. To explain the positive local community impact I would first focus on the profit effect marketing can have. In the next five years, hopefully within the four I will be studying business marketing at Cal Poly SLO, I hope to put my knowledge forth in helping local business in the San Luis Obispo area. San Luis Obispo, the small town where my future college is located in is brimming with small business. That being said, during my four years there I would seek out a few businesses in need of help, whether it be getting back on their feet or just starting up, and help them appeal to consumers and make their business flourish. This flourishment then proves even more beneficial to the small town as business expansion helps to accelerate the town's economic growth and create more jobs for its citizens. Now while focusing on the global environmental impact, I want to assist in a way that goes beyond the previously mentioned profit impacts. In addition to the profit benefit marketing also has the ability to bring attention to societal issues. When catering to an audience to sell a product or service you also have the power to push an agenda or even bring to life a current social or political issue. In the next five years I hope to make a global impact by continuing in the current societal agenda of essentially changing the narrative. For so long in the media there has been a trend of what “sells” not being an accurate representation of certain bodies of people. Although it doesn't happen as much in our current day and age, sometimes when companies are trying to appeal to a specific group of people they follow this stream of stereotypes that they think will draw their target audience in. I hope to put an end to this stereotyping and create ads and brands that actually appeal to this stereotyped audience. In addition to this I also want to help further the branding of inclusivity for companies. By pushing the branding of inclusivity, specifically through representing the historically underrepresented, you're creating a more inclusive society that recognizes the differences of others and then accepts them despite it.

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 was saved at a very young age. I didn't always understand what it meant to be saved, but I knew my mom was really happy when I decided to get saved. I watched my mom growing up talk about Jesus and walk out her faith every day. She was always praying and "believing God" for everything she needed. When covid hit, I got to spend a lot of time with my mom and brother. We had many days where we were just sitting around and talking about different things in life. My mom talked often about what her faith in what God has taught her and how faith helped her through the different experiences she had in life. It was during this time that I really started to take my faith seriously. I started to read my Bible on a daily basis and pray as well. Around this time, I also started to experience extreme anxiety. I ran track as a varsity athlete, but I had this mental barrier in my mind where I could not perform to the best of my ability. My mom talked to me about having faith in God and trusting that through all of this, he would get me through. She taught me about what the word of God said about peace. I decided then that I would pursue God with all of my heart during Covid. It was the peace of God that got me through the times that I had extreme anxiety, especially during my freshman year and it continues to be the peace of God that gets me through today. I've seen God work in my mom's life and I've seen him work on my behalf with my dad, whom I do not have the best relationship with. I also struggled a lot with confidence over the past four years. My mom continues to remind me of what God's word says about who I am. I am a Child of God and I am the daughter of a King. I've learned to walk with my head held high and I also learned how to share my faith. I don't just share my faith with words, but I do my best to share my faith with actions. I believe that you have to walk whatever you're talking. I believe that my faith will help me in my career as I believe God will open doors for me that no man can shut. I believe that he will give me the desires of my heart as I continue to seek him first in everything that I do. And I plan to make an impact with every single person that I have contact with, especially when it comes to my career. I know that God does not place us in a position just for our benefit, but for his glory.

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.

Starting with my field of study, I want 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 sort of dive into the minds of current day consumers and shift brands and marketing strategies based on their interest. With this field I'd also be able to use my creativity and without being too worried about getting bored because I can work on a wide variety of projects. It also allows me to continue to utilize my people skills and continue to work around lots of people. It also generally allows me to continue to do lots of collaborative work with others as well. With this degree I hope to work in advertising or as a brand strategist for a large company such as Google or Apple. This major would help me with this as it directly correlates with my desired positions.