The song Old Her By Yde has the most important message to me. The song talks about how as you get older, you change, and life continuously gets harder. Each of the verses talked about the different younger stages in your life when you were ignorantly blissful. The song is important to me because it talks about wishing you were back in the immature stages of life when it was not so stressful and not so complicated but it reminds you that your purpose in life is to change and grow and better yourself no matter how hard life gets. While the song is her perspective on life, I felt it spoke to me and I was able to relate to it and learn a bit from its message. I came across the song when I was especially feeling nostalgic and missing those times it helped me to accept the changes I was experiencing and keep going.

My dream is to own a bakery one day. I'm passionate about what I want to do I love baking for others.

Check your grades and assignment weekly, if not daily. I check my grades daily to ensure nothing is wrong and stay on top of things. Also, feel free to ask your teachers for help and always read comments left by teachers. I know many of my teachers appreciate that I come to them when I don't know something or if one of my friends is too shy to ask and it has made me known among my teachers as a leader and an advocate for others. Also always know comments left by teachers are usually not personal they're constructive criticism or it can be praise for a job well done and they help you to improve Insta:@saltyblazingfire

I'm committed to being selfless because I find joy in In helping others, and that is one of the things I want for my future as well. I want to own a restaurant, but I also want to be able to give back to the community. I volunteer at the Sunrise Project, which is a nonprofit food pantry and garden open to the public. Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday, I help with the community meals where I help box food and give it out to the community. I've been doing this for about 7 months from 5-6:30 during the warm seasons, but once it got cold and started getting darker sooner, we moved it to 4-5:30. I used to come in on Tuesdays from about 10 am to 1 pm, but I couldn't anymore once school started. We give out foods like chili, soup, spaghetti, biryani, and much more. All the food is homemade and served with a cookie or some sort of sweet treat. They have vegetarian options, vegan options, and gluten-free options. I think what they do is incredibly caring, and the fact that they take the time and effort to provide options for everyone makes me proud to be a part of it.

To support equality and diversity at my school I am a member of my school district's first equity council. We had our first meeting right before winter break, and we talked about ways to let people know about equity counsel and ways to get others' input on things around them that they have witnessed or experienced as inequitable. My idea was that we could have an online resource or could talk about it in person, but let people know about what our peers do that is was antagonistic to others of marginalized groups. My idea is that we create a place where classmates and even teachers can post anonymous examples of things that they heard that were sexist or racist, or homophobic, and then we, the equity council, can talk about it in some of our classes or make a video addressing them explaining why it is offensive. My school has certain days where we'd watch a video or fill out a survey in one of my class periods. I thought we could do something like that for people to fill out the anonymous questionnaire when they have time during a designated week or so, and then the council could make a video where we address them and teachers could show it during a certain class period.

I'm Victoria, I'm 16 and I live in Lawrence Kansas. I live with my mother my two younger siblings and my stepfather. I think I would be a good candidate because I'm creative I love that with my career choice I can be creative with all the colorful food I put together. I'm driven I know what my dream is and ill do whatever it takes to get there. I'm open to trying new things to better myself because I know there's always room for improvement. I'm passionate about what I want to do a lot of my friends whenever I tell them I love cooking and baking they always say "I could never have enough patience to actually cook something" but I do have the patience I love how detailed you can be with cooking how personal it can be. My culinary teacher showed us a video that said " cooking is diplomatic" which it is, you have to know that some cultures don't eat pork and some have foods that are native to them knowing things like this determines how you interact with people. I get ecstatic when I learn a new skill even if it's by trial and error a few summers ago I made my first decorated cake layered cake it was chocolate with a layer of cheesecake in the middle and a hand frosted Olaf on it and it turned out really good because I took my time and paid attention to details most people would believe that was the first layered cake I made and later I made another one. Attached are some of the foods and desserts I've made

As a young woman of color, I feel like we have had dreams of doing something big, but as we get older, society tries to put us into this box of what black people are supposed to want or accomplish, some of us lose motivation from the lack of a support system. My utopian vision for the Black community's optimal mental health is a place where we can share our desires and dreams, and others will accept and encourage us on our journey to greatness. I take advanced classes because I believe in myself and know that I am capable of greatness. I can't remember a single one of my teachers encouraging me to take advanced courses, and even in my advanced classes, I'm usually the only black student there. I find this disappointing because I know so many students of color who are so bright and capable of pushing themselves and doing something incredible, but they don't because they weren't encouraged growing up. I had my entire family helping me to achieve my dream and providing me with unreal opportunities. If all black people had the courage and support to achieve their dreams and ambitions, we would be able to break through those stereotypes. People wouldn't look at us like we're inferior to them in every way. We wouldn't be labeled as these contradictions that say we're lazy but still criminals. We'd be able to walk into a room or on the sidewalk with the same amount of respect that white people are given. We would have earned the recognition that's due to us. If more people of color are encouraged to pursue careers, especially in education and psychiatric practices, it gives us someone in our communities and schools to go to. African Americans alone "are at particular risk for mental health illness due to an overrepresentation in homeless populations, people who are incarcerated, children in foster care and child welfare systems, and victims of serious violent crime" according to the American Psychological Association. Ultimately, we can say that a way to solve these problems and allow improvements in the mental health of BIPOC would be the complete extermination of racism and prejudice in today's society. A society where black people are free, have all their rights secured, and are treated equally without judgment based on their skin color would be ideal. Discrimination and prejudice have a long history in our society that must be challenged by everyone every day if we want a change to happen.

One of my favorite way to help others is by volunteering at a nonprofit in my town called sunrise project. I box up meals and help give them out to the community for free. I've been doing this for about 4 months every first and third Wednesday from 5-6:30. I used to also come in on Tuesdays and help with meal prep but I can't since the school year started. Since I've been there we've given out hot dogs, chili, pasta salad, spaghetti, chickpea curry, pesto pasta, and biryani. We also offer vegan and gluten-free options and usually some cookies to go with it, I love seeing all the kids get so happy when we have special desserts for them. I feel that it is so thoughtful what they do and the fact that they put the time and effort in to make options for everyone it makes me happy to be a part of something like that.