My favorite community event that I have participated in is an event we call "Trunk Or Treat". On Halloween night, a large group of National Honor Society Students break off into different sections of the town, going door to door to collect food for our local food shelf. I have always looked forward to this event and it is truly wonderful to see how many people in the community are willing to help those in need. This event is incredibly meaningful, not only because of the tremendous amounts of nonperishable food that is collected, but because of the way we become role models for the younger kids who are out trick or treating. It shows families all around the community that there are young people that care and it gives an amazing reminder that there is still good being done in the world today. It is admirable to see the amount of students who have chosen to participate in this event, especially when acknowledging how cold Halloween has been the past couple of years with the treacherous Minnesota weather. Students have persisted through wind and snow to collect an abundance of food to help better our community. And despite this awful cold, everyone still dresses up, granted with many many layers, and keeps a smile on their faces the whole time. This will always be my favorite event that I have participated in while involved in the National Honor Society, and despite the frigid weather, I truly would not change a thing about it. The best part is when all the students go to drop of the food that they collected the next day after school. I remember walking in the back room of my local food shelf and being in complete awe when I saw the immense amount of food that was back there. There had to have been at least a hundred bags full of food, and my group had yet to even empty all of the food we had crammed in the back of my trunk. Knowing that I had contributed to make this big of an impact in my community warms my heart. I hope that all the food we collected is able to help a lot of people who are in need, and give them a little bit of light in such a dark time. Volunteering and being active in my community is such an important aspect of my life and had made me who I am today.

My name is Tessa Fjone and I am a senior at Big Lake High School. I am currently involved in my school’s National Honor Society and I am a co-chair of the substance use prevention group called E.P.I.C. (Encouraging Positive Influences and Choices). In addition, I managed the football team all of high school and I am a captain and pitcher for the varsity softball team. Outside of school, I have been working at Target for almost two years and some of my hobbies include reading and baking. Through my school's National Honor Society, I have contributed over 80 hours of community service. This includes various different activities such as helping in the elementary school library, collecting food for the local food shelf, or packing meals at Feed My Starving Children. Additionally, I have been active in my community as a youth advocate for the school's substance use prevention group. I have been involved in various community events and meetings, as well as meeting with my district legislator and senator at the State Capitol, to advocate for limiting tobacco use in public spaces in my community. Finally, I am currently assistant coaching a 12U travel softball team this spring and into summer. I love being able to pass my years of knowledge and personal experience to these younger girls, and they love getting coached by someone who has actually played the sport. I truly love helping the community in any way that I can, and I consistently try to make it a better place. Whether it is simple things, like going out and picking up garbage around my neighborhood, or more extensive things, like going to community meetings to represent the youth in our community. Being active in my community has truly made me the person I am, and I want to continue this pattern as I age into adulthood. Next year I will be attending the University of Minnesota Duluth with my older sister, and I plan to major in psychology. Throughout years of volunteering, whether on my own or through National Honor Society, I have learned that I have a passion for helping people. I want to continue this passion in my future career path. I am also fascinated with anything science related, but what intrigues me the most is learning about how the mind works. This curiosity, combined with my love for helping others, makes becoming a psychologist my ideal career.

Science has always been my favorite subject in school. By nature I am a very curious person, and the subject has never failed to intrigue my curiosity. I have taken almost every elective science class my school has to offer, and I have loved every single one of them. That being said, it became a very difficult decision to decide what type of science to major in; however, after much consideration I have decided to major is Psychology this fall. I have always been interested in learning about the way things work, and the complexities of human behavior is the most fascinating to me. I am currently taking a college level psychology class, which has made me certain that this major is the right choice for me. Psychology is the perfect combination of science, curiosity, and empathy. Going into a career path in psychology allows me to pursue both my love for science and helping others. Ever since I was young I have been a very empathetic person, I was consistently going out of my way to help those around me, trying to make as many people happy as I could. As I aged, I joined my school's National Honor Society, where I have contributed over 80 hours of volunteering. Being in this group only expanded my passion for helping others and solidified my goals for the future. Furthermore, as I have learned through various different research projects, the amount of diagnosed mental health disorders is steadily increasing and with that the need for more therapists and psychologists follows. It is important to me to ensure that every person has someone who they can talk to, and I want to be that person for as many people as I can. Last spring, I was going through a very difficult point in my life and I was diagnosed with both anxiety and depression. How much my own therapist helped me was the main motivation for me to enter this field of study. Through personal experience, I learned how hard it is to constantly fight those internal battles, and I hope to help as many people through those times as possible. Moreover, my future career goals are to become a licensed mental health counselor. I will be attending the University of Minnesota Duluth in the fall and I plan on getting at least a Master's degree in Psychology. As of now, I plan on specializing in youth counseling, particularly focusing on adolescents. This is because of how much I have seen not only myself, but also my peers struggling to get through this time in their lives. As a person is going through various emotional and physical changes, it can be very difficult to handle this on top of things like school, friendships, sports, family, and work. My goal is to help as many people as possible cope with these stressors and become the best version of themselves they can be.