My mother is a woman made out of strength, devotion, and kindness. Growing up my mother has always had an other first, me last mindset. She is a kind and generous woman who manages to point everything in life back to Jesus. Every opportunity that has been given, every fall she has encountered she has taken time to thank God for all of it. Her kindness and positivity that exudes every day are what has made me into the person I am today. Today I am a senior at Mississippi State University about to become the first person in my family to have a college degree. Today I am a part of the First Baptist Church and Baptist Student Union. Today I am a student intern at a Christian elementary school. My mother has been the little voice inside my head that guides me as I make my decisions, she guides me to always find my answers in the Bible. My mother is devoted to everything in her life from her family to her work to her community service every day. A tradition started by my mother when I was young was to keep Christ alive in Christmas. In the month of December instead of buying loads of toys and gifts for everyone for one day, we have a family meeting on December 1st, and all pick which organization to volunteer for the rest of the month. This tradition has been a motivation to put others before me for the new year and has shown me that a little kindness and love go a long way when others aren't shown it every day. I have included this tradition in every holiday that I can because, at the age of 10, I realized that this tradition wasn't something that I had to do but something that I wanted to do. Without knowing it that realization changed the course of my life forever. My mom has influenced me to take several mission trips and has encouraged me to try and reach the unreached. Almost every spring, winter, and summer break since middle school I have gone somewhere to spread the gospel. My mother has impacted my life in such a positive way that I have become a person who wants to help others and inspire the youth of tomorrow. I owe her guidance and devotion to the Lord to the person that I am today.

Respect, innovation, kindness, inclusion, and exploration these words are the pillars that I hold to inspire the youth in my career. Growing up in the world of education I was blessed with teachers who demonstrated these words to me every day while in their classroom. My 11th-grade English teacher Mrs. Green shined the brightest in my educational journey, she represented all five of these words and more. She inspired me to pursue education later on in my life when I was undecided. Mrs. Greens' teaching style was so innovative and extraordinary, it made me what to continue to learn and seek out answers to my questions outside of the classroom. That is the kind of teacher I want to be. Inspiring each student that crosses my path doesn't just depend on what I know about the subject I am teaching. Inspiration comes from an overwhelming amount of kindness and respect spread to each student. A teacher who has a passion for the content and a love for the children is a teacher who makes somebody feel like a somebody. I hope that with the right leadership and encouragement from me that my students will possess an overwhelming desire to pursue a subject that was discussed, think about it outside of class, research it, and have them want to have a discussion about it is a goal of mine as a future teacher. Teaching happens everywhere, but teaching children how to love teaching takes a teacher who aspires to inspire.

To me, friendship means to be there for someone because you care for and want them to be in your life. In two words that sum up, friendship are loyalty and devotion. My best friend and I clicked immediately after meeting one another not only because we are both unequivilantly weird and love it but because there was a blind trust that accompanied our friendship. We played soccer and I had to trust her to stop the ball and she had to trust me to do the same. Friendship is an easy decision but fellowship and trust is an everyday task only given to those who we find truly special and deserving.

I wouldn't classify my ADHD as a disability, I would classify it as an everyday rock in the road that constantly needs pushing. Growing up it was really difficult to focus or have the motivation to start a task because once I start to hate to leave something unfinished. Though I constantly switch from one task to another. If I see something that catches my attention I feel an invisible rope drawing me towards it that I can't fight against. I participated in sports such as volleyball, soccer, softball to manage my focus because if you aren't focused during the game you'll get knocked in the face with a ball. My ADHD has influenced me tremendously in my field of study toward my future, a desk job would drive me insane so that was automatically off the table. I need to find something that interests me and that hits all my attention grabbers in my mind. I started volunteering from an organization called The ARC Mississippi, which organizes activities for people with special needs. I became a counselor for their camp, Camp Bold, where I watched over kids ages 3-5 and I never had so much fun in my life. Those little girls and guys made me smile and laugh like it was my first time being happy. It was then that I realized that those little rascals put everything in perspective and lead me down the teaching career path. My major before was premed biology because that's what I thought I wanted because my parents wanted it. After finding my passion I switched my major to Elementary Education with a minor in history.

Play-offs, last game to the championship, game 2 down 10-20. This was the best team in the state, from the beginning we were already thinking we were going to lose, set our minds up for failure going into the game. Our coach called a timeout and asked us a question she said, "Are you guys done? Cause I don't want a team out there that doesn't want to give me their all.' she continued, ' I don't care if we win, I care about all the work that was put into play to get us here we didn't work so we could just give up when it matters." We all agreed to fight like it was all on the line, because it was. We started to play like the team we were, defense was radiating strength, offensive plays were catastrophic. We ended up losing that game but I will never forget that feeling of giving every thing. That was one of my favorite moments on the court. The feeling after the game, when there is just silence and its you and your court burns that is what makes me passionate about volleyball, the feeling of freedom and accomplishment. I show my leadership by supporting and growing the game in my community, I recently started to coach a recreational team of little volleyball players ages 10-14 and with my coaching, I am showing them the beauty and grace of the sport, emphasizing the power the sport has to control more than just a ball over a net.