Throughout my life, the Community I've lived in has changed me in many ways. I live in a town about an hour away from Portland called McMinnville. McMinnville isn't the biggest of cities, but our community is. Everyone is connected, we have one high school, a small, but historic downtown, and town-wide traditions and events that make this little town unique, not just the whole of Oregon but in the Pacific Northwest. If you want to hang out with friends it always seems like there is nothing to do. Still, hidden within the little town there are local restaurants and locally owned businesses that provide this community with activities that everyone knows about and bring people together, people that you may not expect to come together, because of this feeling of Community. Because of this interconnectedness throughout, it's easy to find a group of people that you feel welcomed in. For me, this was soccer. Soccer is who I am, and has helped shape my goals and dedication to other things like academics and art. The soccer Community in McMinnville is incredibly talented. The boys I've grown up with have traveled all across the United States with me and have even gone international all together in Mexico to play. The soccer Community here in McMinnville is strong. If you're dedicated to the sport, people know who you are. This hidden culture in McMinnville has helped me create good habits for myself, by providing examples of what it takes to make it and the dedication needed. These habits have transferred into other aspects of my life, like academics. I've always been decent at school but always struggled with procrastination and commitment. The soccer Community has helped me with these struggles and provided me with skills to improve my academic life. Because of this, I've explored many paths including Engineering, art, woodworking, and fabrication. But because of the interconnectedness of McMinnville, I've been able to talk to many people of advanced degrees, and have found architecture. It provides areas of engineering and arts that speak to me. I feel like it would have been a lot harder to travel through life without the Community of McMinnville. It's so easy to find and talk to people who have experienced and traveled through their journeys and can provide you with experience that they found. Only the Community of this small town can provide that.