During the lockdown, TikTok started having a great impact on our lives. I was always into reading, I remember being 12, making my mom go to the library with me and grab as many books as I could. During covid, the #BookTok started trending. Finding people who enjoy reading around me was hard, so #BookTok became that friend for me. Colleen Hoover's books were the most famous ones at the time. For example, "It Ends with Us" by Colleen Hoover, was about a girl who got separated from the love of her life in her teenage years, and is now going through another relationship in her late 20s but this one is not as cute as her teenage love. She goes through domestic violence and gets sexually assaulted, but in the end, life reunites her and her teenage love after years. This book touched so many people's hearts, because Lily, the main character, reminded many people of themselves. Another reason why #BookTok held a great power when it came to us making choices was because it was full of opinions, recommendations, and edits that showed you how the book was. It became a better place to look for reviews than Good Reads, or Google. The book "It Ends with Us" by Colleen Hoover was the first book I read from #BookTok, after that, I started by reading all the Colleen Hoover books because they had this exciting and breathtaking plot twists. For example, in "November 9", we learn that the reason for the scars that Fallon has is because of Ben, but he is also the reason why she is not insecure about them anymore. I think if you are new to reading, Colleen Hoover's books are the must-haves. Then, It comes my favorite author, Taylor Jenkins Reid, the author of "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo", "Malibu Rising", "After I Do" and many other amazing books. Her books are more realistic, but they catch your attention from the first page. Those are the books you would want to read if you want something more complicated than Colleen Hoover's books but they still have those breathtaking moments as well as the sad ones where you not going to able to hold your tears back. At the end of the day though, #BookTok had a big impact in the reader's live, but also the book "It Ends with Us" by Colleen Hoover. It is the book that most people compare to every book they read. The #BookTok is one of the most amazing things on any social media.

I am a freshman at Suffolk Community College, pursuing an associate degree in Computer Science. I am a first-generation college student. I chose to major in computer science because the world is going digital, and I loved the idea of solving problems and being creative while programming. My biggest motivation is my parents because they affected my life greatly and moved to New York to give me and my brother better education. They motivate me to work hard so that I can support myself and them in the future. The other thing that motivates me to work harder is that education is the power you can have in your hand and as a woman, being independent can be one of the best things. I believe if I work hard enough today, I can be the best version of myself in the future. Another thing I would do is offer free lessons to women who want to major in computer science because this is a field that is dominated by men and I don't want any women to feel as though they are less intelligent because of this. Growing up, I was only interested in computer science and biology as majors. Although they are both STEM majors, I discovered in high school that I was more interested in computer science than biology. I've always been incredibly interested in how computers operate. Since I was a young child, my uncle and I have broken down old computers or TV remote controls and then put them back together. STEM, in my opinion, gives students the chance to use their critical thinking abilities to solve problems. That's why I decided on a STEM-related major because I love the idea of creating different solutions to solve a problem. My happiest moment as a computer science major comes from seeing my code run. My dream is to be a software engineer because it gives me the chance to work remotely and solve problems at the same time. I believe working in the field of information technology could have a positive impact on the world because these jobs make our daily lives easier. These positions have the potential to increase workplace productivity and help businesses make more informed decisions. Almost everything is controlled by computers and with the help of jobs in information technology, things can get a lot easier than it is. Moving to a different country was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. I had to move to New York when I was 11, it wasn't really my choice but my parents’ choice. I had no idea what was happening when we were at the airport. No matter how old you are, moving from the place you have settled down is hard and what's harder than that is starting from scratch. I didn't speak English and I wasted all my middle school years trying to learn English and getting bullied. Not speaking the language of where you live gives you the impression that you are a baby again and unable to speak. So many times, I wanted to stop doing anything and go back to everything I left in Turkey but that wasn't a choice. Every day I woke up for school. It felt scary. After four years of living in America, I was able to understand and speak English thanks to my increased effort at that point. I wanted to convince my parents that their efforts weren't useless. I was able to feel that I made progress toward my goals and had accomplished something when I graduated from high school.

I've read a ton of books and given a ton of them five stars but at the end of the day, my all-time favorite is always “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. The first book that ever brought me to tears. This book is about a young girl named Liesel Meminger who lives during the Nazi Regime and is told from Death's point of view. Your heart breaks as he recounts the sad tale of her woe, and not even superglue can mend it. I enjoyed having Death as the narrator the most because that is not something you can find in books. Before reading the book, I felt a bit weird about having Death as the narrator because I assumed his voice would be dark and scary but I was wrong. Death had his own personality. As much as humans do, Death also tries to comprehend the human race. The most engaging stories draw the reader in and make them feel involved in the story's events and that's exactly how I felt while reading this book. Every reader will find something they enjoy in this book. There are some haunting moments, some very funny ones, and of course, there are also some painfully sad and heartbreaking ones. In conclusion, “The Book Thief” is a must-read and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to read something different and unique. No matter how many other books you read, this is the kind of book that stays with you forever.

Growing up, I was only interested in computer science and biology as majors. Although they are both STEM majors, I discovered in high school that I was more interested in computer science than biology. I've always been incredibly interested in how computers and phones operated. Since I was a young child, my uncle and I have broken down old computers or TV remote controls and then put them back together. STEM, in my opinion, gives students the chance to use their critical thinking abilities to solve problems. That's why I decided on a STEM-related major because I love the idea of creating different solutions to solve a problem. My happiest moment as a computer science major comes from seeing my code run. My goal is to be a software engineer because it gives me the chance to work remotely and solve problems at the same time. Almost every aspect of life is impacted by technology, and technology will continue to develop and grow. I believe working in the field of information technology could have a positive impact on the world because these jobs make our daily lives easier. These positions have the potential to increase workplace productivity and help businesses make more informed decisions. IT jobs are one of the most important jobs these days because life is working with technology. Almost everything is controlled by computers and with the help of jobs in information technology, things can get a lot easier than it is. I think I am one of the best candidates for receiving this scholarship because as someone who is studying computer science, I don't have the best computer to work with. Getting this scholarship would push me further to my Computer Science degree and it would help me to study computer science in better ways. If I'm chosen, I'll use the money to buy a better computer for myself and my future.

I had to move to New York when I was 11, it wasn't really my choice but my parents’ choice. I had no idea what was happening. I am 18 now. I am a first-generation college student. I believe for a woman, one of the important things for a better future is education. As a woman, you must be independent. And growing up, I was able to realize that when a woman depends on a man, her rights are taken away. The idea of being independent and not depending on anyone but myself motivated me to go to college, and pursue my education. Another reason I am so motivated to get my bachelor's degree is that I have the opportunity to be the first in my family to attend college. Education is my key to success and a better future for myself and my family and reminding myself every day motivates me better than anything else. Being in a country other than your homeland is not easy, and being a first-generation student is also not easy because you have no one to tell you about experiences but I can help others in the future.

I am a freshman at Suffolk Community College, pursuing an associate degree in Computer Science. I am a first-generation college student. I chose to major in computer science because the world is going digital, and I loved the idea of solving problems and being creative while programming. My biggest motivation is my parents because they affected my life greatly and moved to New York to give me and my brother better education. They motivate me to work hard so that I can support myself and them in the future. The other thing that motivates me to work harder is that education is the power you can have in your hand and as a woman, being independent can be one of the best things. I believe if I work hard enough today, I can be the best version of myself in the future. If I could do anything with my life, I would move to the city and go to school there because I believe there is so much to learn from life when you live in a crowded environment. I also believe that life experience is as important as getting a degree and New York City is one the best places to live to experience life and meet interesting people. Another thing I would do is offer free lessons to women who want to major in computer science because this is a field that is dominated by men and I don't want any women to feel as though they are less intelligent because of this. Growing up, I was only interested in computer science and biology as majors. Although they are both STEM majors, I discovered in high school that I was more interested in computer science than biology. I've always been incredibly interested in how computers and phones operated. Since I was a young child, my uncle and I have broken down old computers or TV remote controls and then put them back together. STEM, in my opinion, gives students the chance to use their critical thinking abilities to solve problems. That's why I decided on a STEM-related major because I love the idea of creating different solutions to solve a problem. My happiest moment as a computer science major comes from seeing my code run. My dream is to be a software engineer because it gives me the chance to work remotely and solve problems at the same time. Almost every aspect of life is impacted by technology, and technology will continue to develop and grow. I believe working in the field of information technology could have a positive impact on the world because these jobs make our daily lives easier. These positions have the potential to increase workplace productivity and help businesses make more informed decisions. IT jobs are one of the most important jobs these days because life is working with technology. Almost everything is controlled by computers and with the help of jobs in information technology, things can get a lot easier than it is. Moving to a different country was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. I had to move to New York when I was 11, it wasn't really my choice but my parents’ choice. I had no idea what was happening when we were at the airport. No matter how old you are, moving from the place you have settled down is hard and what's harder than that is starting from scratch and working on yourself all over again. I didn't speak English and I wasted all my middle school years trying to learn English and getting bullied. Not speaking the language of where you live gives you the impression that you are a baby again and unable to speak. So many times, I wanted to stop doing anything and go back to everything I left in Turkey but that wasn't a choice. Every day I woke up and went to school. It felt scary and confusing. As the years went by, I started to understand my parents' effort to give my brother and me a brighter future. After four years of living in America, I was able to understand and speak English thanks to my increased effort at that point. I realized that life is short after all the mental challenges I faced in middle school, and I wanted to be able to convince my parents that their efforts weren't useless. I was able to feel like I had made progress toward my goals and had accomplished something when I graduated from high school.

People like different songs for different reasons because we all have different lives, and pasts from each other. The song that makes me feel less alone, helps my mind calm down, and expresses my emotions better than I can is “Good Years” by Zayn Malik. I love this song because of its meaning and what it means to me. This song's message stands out to me because it discusses how sometimes you can regret the actions you took and the decisions you made in the past. The singer talks about  how he wishes he hadn't wasted all of his good years. It also talks about how sometimes people act so childish when it comes to saying sorry because they are more concerned with their egos than anything else. I also agree with this because I had relationships in the past where both sides was childish enough to not appologize and change the story. The singer himself is very introverted and he express his emotions with the music and his music especially this song helps me a lot.

My name is Yaren, and I am upcoming freshman in Suffolk Community College. I am pursuing a associates degree in Computer Science. After my two years in Community college, I will transfer to an university to get my bachelors degree. The most important goal I have is to become a hard-working woman and be a software engineer. I want to be able to make my parents proud for the things they have done for me. I did not always saw myself being a software engineer, I always saw myself as a therapist but in my sophomore year of high school, my dads cousin inspired me in a way I could never imagined. He explained me coding like it’s magic and you are creating your own language. Watching him writing codes was so interesting for me. So I decided to todo magic just like him and be able to write codes and create new products. Another reason, I decided to major in computer science is that technology grows and it will never stop growing. I grew up in a immigrant household. The main reason my parents moved was for me to get a better education and come to better places in life. My family do not have much money to contribute toward my college expenses. As a Computer science student, I do not have a computer. This scholarship would mean the worlds to me because it would help me continue my education and get a computer for myself to write codes and do my assignments

I am 18 years old and planning to study Computer Science. I am first generation going into college, and in a city that is new to me. My plan is to make my young self and my parents proud. I had hard times filling out FAFSA, and applying to colleges, but with the help of my counselors, I was able to overcome everything as a first-generation. My goal was to go to New York University but my parents are not able to support me financially and I don't have a job that pays me well enough but you can't let these changes in your path change your goals. So I applied to community college and will finish my first two years there to save a good amount of money for my dream college. Starting with Community College can help you a lot financially. I need financial support to buy a computer that I can use for my major next year. My parents always tried their best to give me everything I need but there are some times when they can't do everything on time. Everyone around me told me to change my major because there are not a lot of women studying Computer Science and I might feel uncomfortable but I decided to give it a try and become one of those women in STEM. We need more women in tech and my goal is to make all the girls comfortable and be an inspiration for all the young girls that are planning to go into STEM. We need more women in STEM to further innovation and better represent the needs of society. I want to have a positive impact on all the young girls, and help them with feeling comfortable with their majors. I don't want them to change their minds just because people tell them to do. No one knows you better than yourself. If you fail learn from that. Failure allows you to learn from your mistakes and then take a different approach to your dream I also want to have a positive impact on my family as the first generation in college and STEM as a girl. Growing up, my family had huge hopes for me and they always expected big things for me. I want to make their dreams true and become independent and strong on my own. If I can do it, you can too.

Everyone was yelling, and walking down the road to support all the innocent people. They were holding signs that are on the colorful posters, some of them have the name of those innocent people, and some said "Black lives matter", and "All lives don't matter until Black lives matter". I watched the people try to make their voices heard, because no one wanted to be the next person that gets killed for their race, look. Before anything else, we are all human. No, not all black people are drug dealers, and not all middle eastern/ Muslims are terrorists. We have to stop believing in those single stories because we can't judge the whole society for what one person does. I was scared for the people around me, and I wanted to help even if it was just something small. I bought boxes of water bottles and give them to the people that we were fighting for their rights under that bright hot sun. I felt nice and connected with them. You don't have to be black to support black lives, you don't have to be gay to support gay rights, you only need to be human with knowledge.

There are different ways to promote happiness, and one of them is giving. Giving promote happiness, get us closer to others. Wealthy always don't require money, being wealthy comes from the heart first. The old saying "Its better to give than receive" is correct, because you feel important, happy, and helpful to others. Giving requires kindness, empathy, and a big heart. Each day, I give my friends hugs, advice, and smiles to strangers. It helps me feel full of life and helpful to people around me. I try to be an aware person as much as I can, I try to give people the appreciation they deserve, a smile, love. Christmas is one of the most important times of giving, we give each other food, gifts, and extra love. We all feel the happiness of giving during those times. It brings you joy. We should live like that all year, every day, every moment. The things you give don't have to be materialistic. It can be anything. Giving is a way to show each other love, respect, kindness, and a way to make them feel special and important. I hope everyone receives and gives things back to their loved ones.

As people, we focus on giving all the love to others and forget about ourselves. Most people struggle to love themselves and put themselves first in some of the situations because society thought that would make us selfish. I learned to appreciate and love myself in pandemics. I had so much free time to spend by myself and focus on the little details about myself. One of the things I really appreciate about myself is my painting ability. Painting is one of those things I got more into during pandemics and it helped me pick up myself from the depressed mood of pandemics. I think people who are able to paint or have any type of talent are so special, and the best way to put your feeling into things. All paintings have the personality and the brain set of the artist.

You make one of the most important choices in your life when you are 18. You decide what you want to do rest of your life, how do you want to shape your life. Who do you want to be? What do you want to become? You question yourself every day. I have set my goals to help people no matter what. My goal is to be a family lawyer, I want to solve their problems. I want them to trust me. I want to promote justice, listen to people's problems and solve them. I want to be a good lawyer, so I can give a good service to people. And I want to help little kids, I want to be a good example for them. I want to be a good person, so I can make a difference in this world. I will try my best. want to be the person they can come to when they don't know where to turn. I want to help people, little kids. I want to make a difference in their lives, I want to promote justice I want to be a good listener and a good lawyer. And I will, every day. I will strive to be a better person.

Happiness is not something readymade, it comes from your own actions. Every day is a new reason to be happy with new opportunities and a chance to change and improve yourself. The things that make me happy change as the years pass. My exceptions for happiness were so high, I was excepting big things that took so much time to happen but now small things make me happy. I love coffee and waking up in the morning. When I get up in the morning I think about coffee, what time is it, am I going to have coffee today? When I wake up in the morning I enjoy it and appreciate the moment. I enjoy being more productive in the morning because I am more focused and more productive. Appreciate little things in life that you can do every day. A small thing like sitting down on the couch and watching TV or working on your laptop can make you happy. Doing a task you always wanted to do but did not had time to do before. Those things make my day every day, and they are not hard things to accomplish. Happiness is not hard to accomplish when you surround yourself with the right people and do the things that make you happy. Happiness is also not a destination, it is a journey. I am happy I did not give up on my happiness. Happiness is something you can meet yourself. You can learn to appreciate small things and be happy at the moment. You can learn to understand that your happiness comes from your own actions and that the things that make you happy change over the years. You can learn to live in the moment and not worry about the future or past.

Our dreams are based on our lives. The way we live affects the way we dream, the thing that we hope for. Every small thing affects our dreams like activities we do, relationships with parents and friends, challenges and etc. I know what my goals are based on, my dream. My dream is based on my lifestyle. Firstly I want peace in my dream life, I want a life that I never cry myself to sleep and never wake up with that sadness. I wish to have financial freedom and that's why I work so hard. I don't want a life where I ask my family or my husband for money because then men will get the power in his hands. I am not saying everyone is like this but there are so many men out there to take all the power from women to control over but most of the times women are not able to do anything because they don't have the power that financial freedom brings so this is why I want to be financially free. My dream is to be with someone that have emotions and a heart. I want him to understand me no matter what and not use my weaknesses against me. One of the famous beliefs is that money doesn't bring happiness but I believe it does. When there is not enough money, the problems will increase and you will not be able to provide everything you want for yourself and for your kids if you have one. I want a house that shines all day from sunrise, not the one that is hiding under the tree. I want happiness to shine inside the house.

Educated by Tara Westover is the story of her childhood and how she comes into these days. She showed the reader importance of education and shared her memories with her abusive brother, unhealthy religious parents, bipolar dad. Her parents never supported her education and considered as a sin so she had to live the way her parents wants her to live. Each day she had in that house without being able to get educated and not knowing a single thing about the outside world, she decided to cut all the ties with her family to continue on her education. At 17, she started the university without knowing a thing about school with the help of her brother Tyler. She ended up going in Harvard because she never gave up. Westover's purpose to write this book was to encourage the ones that live a similar life. No one can choose their families, and that's why the family doesn't define who you truly are. Westover believes that sometimes breaking away and finding yourself. In her book, she proves the importance of education and knowledge. One of the only books that I got inspired by is "Education" because it shows us how extreme religion can be and how it can affect our lives. I have strict and religious parents, sometimes I feel brainwashed too but you are always who you really are no matter what. Not giving up is the key to a successful future.

My life changed in 12 hours when I moved from Istanbul to New York. I was 11, I felt nothing. I knew that we weren't going to live in our house anymore but I didn't know my life will change completely. The first couple of years felt like a newborn baby trying to learn baby steps with small moves. No one in my family knew how to speak English, the culture. I was my parent's only hope because I have to learn English and make them proud. I did things that normal 11 years old don't do like schedule my doctor appointment, contact my brother's school and do all the paperwork, etc. It wasn't hard but it was sad to have so many responsibilities at this age but I felt like I own my parents something. I learned English, I learned the culture and I became the reason my parents are so proud. It was challenging to keep a balance between learning a language and keeping my grades A+. Now I am a senior in high school, I have a 3.4 GPA, am part of a class of the 2022 club, and taking challenging courses. I still have responsibilities like everyone but now they feel so unheavy on me now. I am happy I grew up fast, I am happy I felt most of the responsibilities most teens feel in their late 20s. My next goal is to make myself and my family proud. I will be the first girl that will go to college in my family except for my older cousin who is a therapist. I know it will be a hard and a long time of school but my goal is to be a dentist. I want to associate with health and help people. I am a senior in high school now, and I can say this is the most challenging year I had in my life because this is the year I need someone else to help as my parents but they can't help me because they don't know how things work here with college applications. They only give me some ideas and I have to figure out everything by myself. I am happy to grow, I am proud of who I am today and the most important thing is my parents are proud of me.

Before being respectful to anyone else, you should be respectful to your body, soul, and mind. Those are the things that keep us alive every day. Each of us has some techniques to stay true to ourselves and mine is relaxation as a gift. I feel the best when I get a cup of coffee and sit outside on a nice sunny day after a two-hour study, cleaning, or just a busy day. it feels like a reward and something that I deserved if I relax and spend time on myself after I do everything I am supposed to. I feel happy when my fingertips are tired, it makes me feel like I was productive. Staying true to myself means being productive and doing whatever I need to do. A productive day looks like to me: having a nice breakfast with my family, study and do my homework, spend time outside and I can almost not go a day without reading a book so it's always part of my life. Every night for half an hour, I try to relax my body, and mind by looking through my phone, doing skincare but I don't enjoy those things if I don't get tired throughout the day. Tiredness is a way I stay true to myself and my mind.

My name is Yaren. My family is not poor, and not rich. We can buy our needs and some of our goods. My dad's wage is our income, no one else in the house works right now. I can see my parents are concerned about paying for my college and I don't want them to be in charge of anything. My dad always shares stories with us, and each time he does they are brand new. He has been hardworking since the early ages and he always impresses me with the things he has done at my age. The best advice he has given me according to his experiences in life is "save something for a rainy day because life is full of uncertainties". He always says that only 8 years ago, he owned a big company in Turkey and made so much money but the problems he had with his family caused their business to end. My dad had savings and those savings helped us come to this day. Spending so much money can't hurt you but saving money can't hurt you. If you don't need money today, we all will someday. As teenagers, we are in this life unprepared and no one tries to get us ready for the real world. The first 18 years of our lives are free trials but the rest is pay to live. Teenagers try to understand the world by the stories of others and until some point, teens think they all live in pink clouds with rainbows and sunshine but it is not always bright outside. There will be dark days that you will need the money more than anything else like my dad always said so save.