Faith planted the initial seed of hope in my life at an early age, and it's been faith’s nurturing presence that enabled me to grow the person I am today. From an early age, I was introduced to nightly prayer by my mother. She taught me to pray every night, and as I got older it became a nightly routine. Growing up, I thought everybody prayed at night. I thought it was an unspoken rule. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Not even my father did this. Nor did he attend Sunday mass with my mom and me. My father claimed to believe, but he never felt the need to attend church; the concept of faith became very confusing. Some said I didn't need to go to church, others say it's our role as Christians. But what does that mean? Luckily for me, my mother helped guide me and led by example what faith looks like. Praying at night was just the beginning. My parents divorced when I was in middle school, I questioned everything but always reminded myself that everything happens for a reason. I knew that even if I didn't understand why these terrible things were happening, God had a bigger plan in motion. My mother began attending bible club where people talked about their faith, gave testimony, and worshiped the lord. My mother and I would go every Friday and witness people's love for God. It was beautiful, I didn't understand why we did these things, but I knew that I had never felt so close to my faith. We've been going every Friday for over five years now, even during COVID-19 when our meetings resulted in Zoom, and even as we went back to in-person when I was the only teenager there, to now as I am officially the co-captain for the teenagers. I have watched our group of teenagers disappear and slowly grow again, but this time it feels different. I can feel them holding back more than ever, they are embarrassed to show their love, but I can sense the little fire in them. I plan to continue being part of this group and helping our teenagers navigate their faith and grow our community, providing an open space for questions and not feeling embarrassed or ashamed by the presence and love of our lord. I ask that God continues to use me as a tool in guiding our teenagers closer to him. It only takes a small amount of faith, a seed as small as a mustard seed that can grow with investing time and love in God. I have been allowed the opportunity to be introduced to my faith at an early age and align my future goals with my faith. For example, as I continue my education to study entrepreneurship, I plan to use my education to invest in a business with my mother that represents our culture tying in our faith and using our success and income to provide others new opportunities such as scholarships, small business investments, and supporting our church and those in need. My life goal is to be in a position where I can be used as a tool to help provide for others in unique ways and build a community of change. As I continue my journey in my education, leadership, and faith, I will continue to find ways to provide in acts of kindness, leading by example by volunteering, being active in my church, and in my small business where I am learning to make jewelry that resembles our faith.