Working to help others has always been something I dreamed of. Growing up in Girl Scouts, public service was a part of my DNA. I would spend my weekends at my church preparing packages for Meals on Wheels or at my troop’s Adopt-A-Stream location. So, when it was time to start applying to college, I found the field of Public Health. This program has been incredible at creating a foundation for a life of Public Service. While in school, I became an Intern at my school’s Food Pantry. This is allowing me to not only learn about Public Health but also gain hands-on experience in the community. There are so many ways public health keeps our society running, and in this program, my day-to-day life has changed. I can now point out examples of public health in action walking down the sidewalk, and it has given me a much greater appreciation for all the work that goes into ensuring the health and safety of the population. I want to be a part of that. As an intern at the food pantry, I am responsible for overseeing volunteers and basic daily operations. While working with volunteers and shoppers, I have gained a stronger sense of community, and I have grown to love hearing why people have come to the pantry. Whether volunteers want to give back to the community or simply have required service, everyone has a reason they chose to work at the Food Pantry. Over ⅓ of college students are considered food insecure, and that is ⅓ too many. Public Health covers a wide variety of the world. In short, it is the field of making sure that everyone can achieve the highest level of health and safety possible. That can be seen anywhere from installing bike racks around the block to building free health clinics in every community. Public health highlights the systemic disadvantages that many communities face, and works to stop problems before they exist. During my time in school and after graduation, I want to use this knowledge to get everyone on the same playing field. Everyone is feeling the effects of our changing world, but some communities carry a heavier burden. Low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be located near industrial and waste facilities. These low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be populated by Black and Brown communities. These Black and Brown communities are more likely to develop respiratory diseases, such as asthma or lung cancer. The ultimate goal is to remove these industrial and waste facilities and to prevent their development near residential areas. But that can take an incredibly long time. So even though it is important to solve the root issue, we must address the immediate risks that these communities face. That’s where public service comes in. I want to equip vulnerable populations with the knowledge to seek help for themselves, and the ability to reach that help. A Food Pantry is useless if nobody knows it exists, or why they should prioritize eating healthy, diverse food. But knowing what the right foods are is pointless if a food pantry does not exist or is not accessible. That is what I aim to do. I aim to bridge that gap between communities and the resources they need.

Schools teach history so that we will avoid repeating it. When schools teach of the tragedies that have plagued the world for centuries, it is so that we learn from the mistakes of our ancestors. We can mark out a future that avoids previous mistakes by utilizing what we saw in the past. Sociologists have spent decades studying the interactions between groups of people and countries, which we can use to develop a stronger connection between different individuals. I am a leader. I am the stage manager with my theater program at school, overseeing actors and technicians throughout the production. Theater creates a family where communication strengthens, and creativity flourishes. Working as a leader has allowed me to expand my comfort zone and become more involved in the community. The skill of being open to learning is something that everybody should remember, and my time in high school has helped me be open to criticism and suggestions. Even as a stage manager, I am not all-knowing. Every day I learn something new, and I will use this knowledge in the future. I will use my receptiveness to work with others and be open to new ideas they may bring. By looking into the world's past, we can learn what went right and what needs to be changed. We can study the paths people have taken for centuries and acquire the knowledge necessary to expand our friendship with those different. In my life, I will make people feel welcome. I will make the world safer for all to live in, where we can put hatred aside and celebrate the differences throughout the earth. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I have first-hand seen the challenges people must face daily. Every day I wake up and hope that something will improve. But it seems the world is moving in reverse. Lawmakers are closing the doors that individuals like me broke down decades ago, and I can't help to wonder what is next. The transgender community is losing their right to be themselves, and the pushback is proving not enough to change the government's mind. Women are losing their right to bodily autonomy, forced to fight against men controlling what they do not seem to understand. These have all been the topic of debate for years now. From the Sons of Liberty to #MeToo, America has been fighting for a voice since the beginning. I will continue that fight. I will gain the foundation to impact the world by examining how the government ticks. Then we can address the problems that are dragging the world down. Activism has been a part of the world's history. Activism has proven to be effective when protesters are loud enough. I plan to make the world a better place by knowing how history has shaped the future and working with those around me to disregard the agenda of ignorant individuals in positions of power.

When my parents divorced, I was confident that was it for both of them. But my mom met someone, and I had never seen her so happy. She finally started to be herself. She was laughing every day, going out all the time. It was like a whole new person blooming because she met him. Because she met Kevin. It took a while for my dad to agree to let me meet him, but finally, I did. The first thing I noticed was his beard. He looked like Santa Claus. Everyone told him that, but how he made my mom feel, I was sure it was magic. They would always go kayaking, hiking, bike trails, and anything they wanted to do, including Kevin buying his motorcycle. He had ridden for years but had to sell it years back, but eventually, he was able to get another one. This caused my mom to learn how to ride and get her motorcycle like she always wanted. Kevin had made my mom a whole new person. My mom bought a home all by herself, he bought a fantastic house, and everything was going well. My mom had plans to stay at Kevin's house for the weekend because there was a memorial ride for a member of his motorcycle group that passed away. So when I got a text message at work on September 23, I looked down expecting my mom to say she was heading to bed. I expected a quick love you, or photos from the service. Not for her to say that there was an accident. Not for her to say Kevin was hit by a car. Not for her to say Kevin was gone. The next few weeks were hard, especially when we first switched houses. I had to watch my mom become a shell of herself, with little I could do to feel meaningful. My mom explained what happened, and I did everything I could to help her while dealing with the loss myself. Slowly she started to open back up again. I will never forget seeing her smile again for the first time. I made some jokes, and she just laughed and laughed. She keeps telling me how when he was hit and she was talking to him, he was satisfied. They knew they loved each together, and they never let a day go by where they didn't tell each other that. Life is short, and losing someone exemplifies that. His death taught me to speak my truth and hug my mom whenever I go to school. Kevin's friends have welcomed my mom, and I want to do that. I want to fit people into my life because life can suck sometimes, but opening my arms can allow someone to have somewhere to go when they need it. Having a support system in times like these is vital. I watched my mom get help from Kevin's motorcycle group, The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, and her having that support was so helpful. Kevin's family was welcoming; his friends treated her as someone important, not just another person in his life. Everyone said they saw Kevin's differences after meeting my mom. I didn't know him before, but I know how happy he made my mom. I want to be that for someone. I want to be the support for someone that can change their lives. Simply by existing, being there to make them happy and worthy of love. I want to be closer to my family, ensuring that the people around me know they are cared about and not a second goes by where someone doubts my love. Through the death of Kevin, I have learned to love every second of life and to be grateful for everything I have. Nothing is permanent, and I want to acknowledge that in my life.

Education is the most critical step in fighting climate change. When people are left in the dark, nothing can get done because most people don’t know what is happening. I work in my life to make sure I know how I can adjust in life to help the environment. As a student, there have not been significant strides I can take to fight in my life, but I make sure to do what I can. I educate myself on the climate change factors and the little things I can work on to help where I am right now. As I get older, I want to look into more important things, such as buying a home where I can get solar panels, buying a climate-friendly car., and purchases that will not alter the course of my life but will still be impactful. Many people complain about the price of electric cars, which is one thing I want to address. When there is lower production of an item and little demand, the costs will rise. But, just like anything, the price will be lower if production increases. Making electric cars more accessible and mainstream would be a considerable advancement by the country to protect the environment. Automobiles are one of the leading causes of greenhouse emissions, a primary factor in climate change. The government has started making steps in the right direction, with California passing a bill requiring all cars sold in the state to be electric in the coming years. I want to see that on a larger scale. If people learn to do their part, they can participate in large-scale movements. Politics is a rocky road to go down; everyone knows that. But if we educate people on a broad scale, a change could be possible on the governmental level. Electric cars are still bad for the environment but are a step in the right direction. Fossil fuels are a significant factor in electric car production, but if enough people push for a change in energy harnessing, that will impact the government. Renewable energy is not hard to access, and there are many ways to get involved in the fight to save the environment. Having a solid foundation is vital to changing the future because if nothing gets put in motion, then nothing will happen. In my life, I want to push for the small steps to make more significant steps possible. Nothing happens without a spark. I want to be a part of that spark. The movement has already begun, but there needs to be a more extensive scale effect from the world, not just clusters of change. I aim to fight climate change by doing what I can to change minor aspects of my life for good, but I want to create a robust platform, so everyone does the same. This topic is challenging for some people to tackle, so I want to allow for small steps to grow into large strides. Everything has to start from somewhere. I want to build a community of people that dedicate themselves to making the world a better place because if nothing gets changed, then the future of humanity has some problem-solving to do. Climate change is almost irreversible, so it is vital, now more than ever, to get people involved in this movement.

My mental health was what marked my fourth through sixth years, with me lashing out, shutting down, or closing myself off. I felt like running through water, using all my energy but going nowhere. I had been on medication, but nothing was helping; if anything, I was getting worse. I was fine, even if I was drowning. But I wasn't willing to reach out for help. Mental Illness is something that has traveled through my family lines. My grandma's mental situation caused my mom to move around a lot, creating a lot of instability until she settled down with my dad. She tried to keep it from me, but I saw how that strained their relationship as I got older. So when I struggled, I didn't want to put that burden on my mom, instead trying to pretend I was okay. Looking back, that was an awful idea, but to a kid who lived in an unsteady home, which forced me to be independent? Everything was fine. I became physical. My aggression towards myself became aggression towards others, where I wouldn't aim to hurt but instead aim to grab attention. So I turned that on to my friends. To this day, I am so thankful they decided to stay with me. Now, I can see how awful of a person I was. I cannot imagine treating them the way I did today. I would have left if they treated me the way I treated them. But they stuck by me. And I will be forever grateful for that. Simple things were challenging to manage. I couldn't stay home from school because I would feel worse for missing class, and the work would become too much. The workload in middle school is no joke, especially for a pre-teen struggling with mental health. My depression allowed my anxiety to fester, depressive thoughts fueling the idea that everyone was watching me. Nobody liked me. They were all judging me. At school, it was hard to ignore the passing thoughts. I am lucky enough that I never acted on the thoughts, but too many times, we walked past the doorway to the roof, and I just thought, 'what if I ran up there? What would everyone think?' But instead, I shook away the thoughts and went to gym class. Things are perfect in gym class. Nothing can go wrong when I have to calculate my BMI. Never. Slowly I started to get better. I don't know what happened, but things began to improve. After a while, I got a therapist that validated my emotions and gave me tools to improve. I don't know if my friends knew how helpful they were, but they were my rock. My friends were there, a daily presence to give me some stability in my life. They were, and still are, there daily to make me laugh, a reminder that I have a reason to stay. Everything is not perfect, and I don't think it ever will be, but as we have gotten older, we have all matured in our outlook on life and mental health, and my friends have been fantastic support even to this day. The bad days still come, the days where I can barely get out of bed, where I can't seem to recognize who I've become, but things have started to get manageable the more I can reach out for help.