The pet I'll be writing about for my essay is a ball python named Nuggets. I've had him since my 7th-grade year of school and he means so much to me. My mother purchased him as a birthday gift for me since I discovered earlier in the year before my birthday that I wanted a snake. A lot of people seem to fear reptiles, especially snakes, for some reason; Nuggets is a very sweet animal and I love telling people about him and educating others about reptiles. Herpetology is one of my biggest interests so it feels good to know a lot about it and inform others about the animals that fit in the category. During my 10th-grade year of school, I was allowed to visit an elementary school and educate the children and their parents about snakes while having Nuggets along with me. I'm in the veterinary assisting and agriscience program at my school so I have a lot of unique and cool opportunities to do things relating to different kinds of animals. I hope I'm able to spend time with Nuggets for a long time, I want to finish undergraduate and graduate school with him and reach my dream of becoming a physician with him still there with me. He's sort of like an emotional support animal for me too, I know a lot of people expect dogs, cats, or maybe some other fluffy animal as an ESA but Nuggets works perfectly for me. When I feel upset sometimes I just hold him and it makes me feel a lot better, he's so calm and he'll just sit there and chill with you. Starting in the Fall 2024 term, I'm attending Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida, and majoring in biology with a minor in marine science. I've had a huge interest in science and the natural world around us for a long time and it feels amazing to finally be able to start continuing my education further to work in a career that relates to my interests. There are a lot of problems happening in the world that I'd love to contribute a solution to such as people not being able to access proper healthcare, coral bleaching, and other effects of climate change too. After obtaining my bachelor's, I'm going to attend medical school with the end goal of becoming an infectious disease physician or a pathologist. I want to study pathogens and find ways to fight back against drug-resistant diseases, and not only focus on how certain pathogens affect humans but animals and plants as well. I know certain diseases have been introduced into wild ecosystems and disturbed them by killing off or dwindling the native populations of certain species. I would like to find a way to stop this in the ecosystems that it's happening in and find effective methods to prevent it from happening again in the future.

My name is Tessaye and I'm a nonbinary transmasculine high school senior who is looking forward to enrolling in the Fall 2024 term for college. Some of my hobbies and interests include zoology (especially herpetology!), photography, crystals, hiking, art, history, and shopping/thrifting. I'm planning to major in biology and eventually pursue medical school and earn my MD to become either an infectious disease physician or a pathologist. I'm currently planning to attend Jacksonville University to obtain my bachelor's degree in biology. A way the LGBTQ+ community impacts me is how everyone in the community inspires me to be resilient, no matter how many people think I cannot do what I dream of doing. I strongly believe that everyone in the community is resilient, especially how our rights are trying to be taken away from us but we will never stop fighting back against it. There will always be people before, current, and after us who will continue to advocate and fight for the rights of LGBTQ+ people and others in marginalized communities as well. It inspires me so much to do the same thing. I participate in and volunteer for an organization in my city called JASMYN. It helps LGBTQ+ youth in need and provides them with a variety of resources they may have trouble finding and accessing. I loved meeting other LGBTQ+ people through this organization as well as volunteering for them during the River City Pride Parade and Festival that takes place here in Jacksonville. JASMYN is the organization that inspires me to eventually be able to create my own organization that will assist LGBTQ+ people across the United States and maybe even the globe! The LGBTQ+ community means a lot to me and I would love to give back to others within the community that are in need. The community is strong and has made a lot of strides towards equality for LGBTQ+ people. It's amazing what a community can accomplish when we work together. I've had an interest in the natural world around us for a long time. I remember loving the environment as a kid and anything animal-related too. Zoology remains a huge interest of mine, but I chose to major in biology because I wanted to learn more about all life on Earth. I want to learn about not only animals but plants and the many microorganisms that inhabit this planet as well. During my junior year of high school, I discovered an interest in learning about infectious diseases through the veterinary science class I was taking at the time. I loved learning about zoonotic diseases and I wanted to learn about other diseases too that are outside of that category. My interest in doing this eventually led me to discover the career of infectious diseases physicians and aspire to become one.

I care about protecting our oceans because they are home to much of the biodiversity that is present on this planet. Whether it comes down to animals, plants, or even the smallest microorganisms, everything is important to me. I believe that others should also care more about the world's environment, especially the oceans. I feel like many people don't think much of it because humans reside on land, but people should think even deeper about how the ocean affects them. The ocean provides food for many people across the globe, ingredients for many medicines have been discovered in the world's oceans, as well as the ocean provides livelihood and jobs for thousands of people too. There are a variety of other things that the oceans help provide for us, but if we don't take care of the ocean and the ecosystems within it, we won't have anything else once it's gone. The oceans around the globe are struggling now. There isn't enough being done for them and I'm very serious when I say that we need to shift our focus into helping conserve and heal them. A lot of the ocean is still undiscovered even though many new technologies have been made compared to hundreds of years ago when there wasn't much. There can be cures for many different diseases and illnesses in the ocean's environment. We wouldn't be able to find this stuff if the oceans keep getting polluted and everything in the environment dies out. When I enroll in college starting in the Fall 2024 term, I plan to major in biology with a minor in marine science. I have a huge interest in anything science-related, especially when it relates to the natural environment around us. I love microbiology and zoology a lot and I would love to have a career in the future that centers the two together. One thing I would love to study is the effect of disease on a variety of sea animals that negatively affect their population sizes and discover ways I and others can help them fight against these infections. Some of the sea animals I would love to study for this include orcas, a variety of sea turtle species, and all pinnipeds. I learned earlier this year that orcas are being affected by skin disease. I'm guessing that the skin disease is probably infectious and has been spread through orcas that are living closely together since they are social animals. Orcas are among some of the most crucial animals in a marine ecosystem, I wouldn't want a disease like this to dwindle their population. They are already endangered which is a serious problem now. Once I graduate, I hope I can pursue one of my dreams of being able to help these animals by discovering more about the illnesses affecting them and how I can assist with keeping their populations at a steady rate that is healthy for the ecosystems they live in. I want to see all the ecosystems that are spread out throughout the world's oceans thrive and be healthy.