Sports have shaped the person I am today. I fell in love with cross country the moment I started in 3rd grade. I didn’t know it yet, but joining would be crucial to who I am today. Cross country is undoubtedly one of the most mentally challenging sports. It takes heart, grit, strength, and determination to get through it. Since I joined so young, these lessons of perseverance became engraved in my heart. It has taught me so many valuable lessons that I apply not only to sports, but to my everyday life. I take pride in my endurance, but I also recognize that cross country taught me it. Every finished practice was a fulfilled promise to myself to never give up. I quickly learned that I can do hard things and trust myself. I learned to be open to change throughout my running career. In 7th grade I developed shin problems. I dealt with this pain for the next 2-3 years. These years were a struggle for me. Eventually my dad started working diligently with me to fix this issue. I had to completely change my running form which is not an easy task. I was resistant but felt the difference once I finally accepted the challenge of change. Since then, I’m much more open-minded and adaptable. My sport was always cross country, but I was persuaded into doing basketball my freshman year. I was intimidated at first because everyone else had been playing for years. Though I felt unprepared, I began the steady road of improvement. I went to the wellness center with my dad every chance I got, attempting to play catch-up with my more experienced teammates. My freshman year I got little to no playing time on varsity but was getting experience on JV. My sophomore year I started getting some minutes at the end of varsity games. Though I wasn’t getting real playing time yet, I could feel myself starting to understand the game. The summer between my sophomore and junior year is where I really fell in love with the game. My team and I played in tournaments all through the summer. Over the summer it had become my sole goal to be a starter for varsity. I gave it my all every chance I got. My goal, showcased in my mind, made me determined to get that spot. I remember vividly the practice where my coach announced who the starters would be. I listened anxiously as he read out the 5 names. To my relief and excitement I heard my name called. At that moment all my hard work and discipline became worth it. I left that practice more confident in my basketball ability, but more importantly in my ability to reach my goals. This experience taught me that I can set high goals for myself and go through with them. Sports have undoubtedly changed me as a person. Not only as an individual, but as a community member. Sports have a special way of connecting people which I’m so grateful to have experienced. I’m honored to have been able to see the positive impact sports have on my community. I have learned many valuable lessons through my experiences that made me a better athlete, teammate, and person. Thanks to sports I have more confidence, adaptability, determination, and kinship. I have so much gratitude towards athletics for improving my life in many positive ways.

I plan to attend The University of Montana and pursue a social work degree. From this degree I want to go on to be a school counselor. This is deeply personal and important to me. I truly want to make a positive impact on people. I’m very passionate about the mental health of young people. Specifically, those in middle school. Mental health is beginning to be taken more seriously, but I think it still doesn’t get the full attention it needs. It is a significant matter, and we, as a society, need to recognize that. Especially in a world with rapidly changing societal expectations for young people, it can easily become overwhelming. This matters deeply to me because I've experienced the struggle firsthand. In 5th grade, I became very withdrawn, closed off, and anxious. I used to Google the symptoms of anxiety and compare them to myself. One day in class, I was suddenly overcome by a wave of sadness because I missed my friends who had moved away that year. I just started crying and was sent to the school counselor. After I talked to her, I was contemplating whether I should talk to her about my concerns about anxiety. I finally decided I would because she was the counselor. These issues were her profession. I opened up to her about my concerns and was instantly shot down. I remember her judgmental tone as she disregarded my feelings. This led to years of suppressing my struggles and feeling hesitant to talk about what I was going through. From here, things didn’t change much. I had this constant feeling of worry regarding everything I said or did. Going into my 8th-grade year, things got even harder mentally for me. The worrying increased, and I felt unmotivated. Every day was a struggle. Along with this, I began dealing with diabetic burnout. I’ve been Type 1 Diabetic since I was 7 years old. I have to manage this every day through insulin injections, blood sugar monitoring, carb counting, and much more. This, paired with the emotional struggle I was battling, just became overwhelming. I had a hard time taking care of myself. This is when my parents really realized what was going on. My mom quickly got me set up with a therapist. After several months of meeting with her, things finally started turning around for me. After this experience, I knew I wanted to help bring hope back to young people, as my therapist did for me. I’m looking forward to making a difference by becoming a school counselor myself. The counselors within a school should be a trustworthy, passionate, and useful resource for students. I believe I have a special and valuable empathy towards people because I’ve been there and know how difficult mental health can be to manage. I want to be someone they have to turn to who uplifts them. Not only that, but I aim to gain scholarly knowledge and experience to help guide them through adversities that life may hand them. My goal is to be able to provide both emotional support and wisdom in times of hardship. I have very high goals and expectations for my professional and personal life. I believe that I have lots of positivity and ambition that can contribute to a hopeful and uplifting impact. I want to be the change that I hoped for when I was younger. Although my experiences weren’t ideal, I can make the most of them by learning from them and implementing change around me.