Hey! I am Tess Gleason. I am from a family of five from New York. I have two sisters, which means that my parents have to provide college tuitions for three children. I strive to do well in school and I plan on going to college after I graduate high school. When I graduate college, I will be the second person to graduate college in my family, following my older sister. As a former homeschooler, I have learned how to be academically independent and self-motivated. I stopped being homeschooled and started going to my local public school in 2019, when I was a ninth grader. With the values I’ve learned by being homeschooled, I have been able to accomplish having the highest grade point average in my grade. I am intending to major in journalism and/or writing in college. I would love to become a travel journalist when I grow up, so that I can write about what I experience in different countries. I want to learn about and explore new cultures, religions, food, and people and share it with others through journalism. One reason I signed up for Bold was to help ease the financial burdens that my parents will have to endure when my sisters and I start to attend college. By receiving scholarships, I will be able to relieve some of the financial stress from my parents and achieve the career that I desperately want to accomplish. By achieving my dream career, I will be able to teach others, such as homeschoolers, that they can accomplish anything, even if they don’t fit the mold of the average student.