I would have to choose my favorite book, "The Martian" by Andy Weir. It is a science fiction novel about an astronaut left behind on Mars after being struck by debris during a dust storm. His team tried to escape to the spacecraft when the main character was struck by an antenna and presumed dead. The main character spends the entire story trying to figure out how to communicate with Earth and figure out how to survive on Mars until he can be rescued. Even though the book is mainly science fiction, it might as well be a comedy with the way the main character struggles with staying sane while being the only person on an entire planet. This story takes a look at human instinct. First off is the natural instinct to survive. When the main character finds out he was left behind, he immediately starts to brainstorm the different ways to receive help. To solve his food problem, he figures out how to create fertile soil using human feces, earth soil, and martian soil. To solve his water problem, he creates more by using the hydrogen in rocket fuel and combining it with the oxygen in his habitat. Many things go wrong, but he always finds a way out of it with all the odds stacked against him. The book also looks at other human tendencies, such as people doing things for their own gain. When the rocket that NASA was rushing to competition failed, the Chinese government decided to offer their secret booster for positive publicity and for a spot on the next mission to Mars. Overall, I extremely enjoy this book. It has opportunities for a person to read deeper than the surface level and think about human nature as a whole. It also does help that the different scientific scenes throughout the book have been mostly deemed plausible. For example, it is plausible that the main character could grow food and create water with the techniques he used.

My definition of honor is doing something that earns a person a high level of respect or great esteem. Performing honorable actions could be helping out someone in need, no matter how big or small the task is. I have been taught to always treat others with respect and to help others in need. I believe that selflessness is a component of being honorable. I also believe that society is more about what others could do for me or what I might gain than what I could do for others. I will not say that I am completely selfless; I would say that I am selfish. That is just how the world is, but it is important for people to look for opportunities to be selfless. The little acts of kindness add up and can encourage others to perform honorable acts as well. Honorable acts can be anything. They can be selfless acts of kindness that are already listed in this essay. I have experience with such activities. I have volunteered with my grandfather at his church’s food pantry for many years. It first started with my grandfather bringing me there while he was babysitting me, to me being inspired to help out myself. Also, since 2013, I have been volunteering at my church. Over the years, I have been given the honor of becoming a senior altar server. As a senior altar server, my main responsibility is to be a role model and to teach the new altar servers. Honor is most important to me as selfless acts someone does for others, but success and achievements can be honorable as well. A high-achieving student that is accepted into an honor society is honorable. The valedictorian and salutatorian are honored at the graduation ceremony. A sports team that won a championship is honored. Honor is all about actions that demand a level of respect. Receiving honor through my achievements feels great, but gaining honor through selfless acts of kindness is always going to be more important to me.

To be 100% honest, I do not have an elaborate and extensive reason why I am choosing the nursing profession. I have always wanted to go into the medical field and I always thought that I was going to be a doctor. It wasn't until I attended the Congress of Future Medical Leaders by the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists that I realized that maybe I don't want to go to medical school. I started to look at all of my options. I was going through UNC-Chapel Hill's list of undergraduate majors when the nursing degree caught my eye. I started to do some research on the nursing profession and I came across the certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Another thing that helped me choose to major in nursing is my time as a youth volunteer at UNC Rockingham Health Care. I volunteered the summer going into my junior and senior years. During this time, I have worked in the emergency, nutrition, laboratory, rehab, intensive cardiac care unit, and engineering departments. I mainly spent my time in the emergency department experiencing what emergency nurses do. This is when I decided that I truly wanted to go into the nursing profession. I hope to attend UNC-Chapel Hill and be accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill's nursing school. After nursing school, I have to get at least one year of experience in an intensive care unit before I can apply to a CRNA program. I hope to be able to work as a CRNA in a big hospital that is not too far away from home. Family is important to me so I do want to stay kind of close to them. I love my home town so I want to be able to help build up the area and serve them with my experiences. Even though this is not about my education, I still plan on continuing my volunteering. I have volunteered at this one food pantry with my grandpa for years. I still want to help out my community and this food pantry is one of the ways that I do just that. I do not know all the details of how this works, but that is something that I should learn as I get farther along. I am still in high school so I do not know the intricacies of college and my planned career. I am excited to start college next fall and I am hopeful that my plan will work out. I am open for there to be change as I figure things out.

To be 100% honest, I do not have an elaborate and extensive reason why I am choosing the nursing profession. I have always wanted to go into the medical field and I always thought that I was going to be a doctor. It wasn't until I attended the Congress of Future Medical Leaders by the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists that I realized that maybe I don't want to go to medical school. I started to look at all of my options. I was going through UNC-Chapel Hill's list of undergraduate majors when the nursing degree caught my eye. I started to do some research on the nursing profession and I came across the certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Another thing that helped me choose to major in nursing is my time as a youth volunteer at UNC Rockingham Health Care. I volunteered the summer going into my junior and senior year. During this time, I have worked in the emergency, nutrition, laboratory, rehab, intensive cardiac care unit, and engineering departments. I mainly spent my time in the emergency department experiencing what emergency nurses do. This is when I decided that I truly wanted to go into the nursing profession. Before I decided on the nursing profession, I was really interested in surgery. During the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, I had the opportunity of watching a live stream of knee surgery. I was fascinated by the entire procedure. I decided that I wanted to be a part of the surgical process. The only way I could think of was to become a surgeon. When I found out what a CRNA was, my plan started to come together. I hope to attend UNC-Chapel Hill and be accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill's nursing school. After nursing school, I have to get at least one year of experience in an intensive care unit before I can apply to a CRNA program. I hope to be able to work as a CRNA in a big hospital that is not too far away from home. Family is important to me so I do want to stay kind of close to them. I do not know all the details of how this works, but that is something that I should learn as I get farther along. I am still in high school so I do not know the intricacies of college and my planned career. I am excited to start college next fall and I am hopeful that my plan will work out. I am open for there to be change as I figure things out.

I have spent years with my grandfather at the food pantry at his church. We would often go there after he picks me and my twin sister up from school. We would normally spend an hour or two helping my grandfather stock shelves and prepare the food pantry for distribution day. On distribution day, I work in the back, preparing boxes and starting them down the line. I have volunteered at this food pantry from around 2013 to the present. Whenever my school schedule and the distribution day line up, I am always there to volunteer. Along with working with a food pantry, I volunteer at my church. I have been an altar server at my church since 2013. An altar server is a person that is up on the altar to help the priest throughout the mass. I was promoted to senior altar server about two years ago. As a senior altar server, it is my job to look after the new servers and teach them how to do their job. I am expected to be up on the altar every week to accompany the new altar server and guide them through the mass. Another one of my major volunteering experiences is my time as a youth volunteer at UNC Rockingham Healthcare. I got the information about this opportunity from my high school and I had to go through a competitive application process to be considered as a volunteer. I volunteered in multiple different departments. I was in the emergency department, laboratory, engineering, nutrition, rehab, and I walked room to room with a snack and beverage cart. My favorite experience was my time in the emergency department. Even though most of my time was slow, I got to see some interesting procedures and meet interesting people. My job was to deliver important lab tests to the lab, make sure the IV bags were stocked, and make sure the nurses and doctors had the equipment that they needed for that specific patient. These are my three favorite volunteering experiences. I love spending time with my family. My time with my grandpa in the food pantry has led to my love for volunteering. When I attend college, I intend on finding a local food pantry to continue my volunteering experience. My religious life is also very important to me. I do not attend on continuing altar serving, but I do want to find a welcoming church when I go to college and I am open to the idea of volunteering there. UNC Rockingham Healthcare gave me an inside look at the medical field. Spending time with the emergency department staff helped me decide that I want to get a nursing degree.

I have spent years with my grandfather at the food pantry at his church. We would often go there after he picks me and my twin sister up from school. We would normally spend an hour or two helping my grandfather stock shelves and prepare the food pantry for distribution day. On distribution day, I work in the back, preparing boxes and starting them down the line. I have volunteered at this food pantry from around 2013 to the present. Whenever my school schedule and the distribution day line up, I am always there to volunteer. Along with working with a food pantry, I volunteer at my church. I have been an altar server at my church since 2013. An altar server is a person that is up on the altar to help the priest throughout the mass. I was promoted to senior altar server about two years ago. As a senior altar server, it is my job to look after the new servers and teach them how to do their job. I am expected to be up on the altar every week to accompany the new altar server and guide them through the mass. Another one of my major volunteering experiences is my time as a youth volunteer at UNC Rockingham Healthcare. I got the information about this opportunity from my high school and I had to go through a competitive application process to be considered as a volunteer. I volunteered in multiple different departments. I was in the emergency department, laboratory, engineering, nutrition, rehab, and I walked room to room with a snack and beverage cart. My favorite experience was my time in the emergency department. Even though most of my time was slow, I got to see some interesting procedures and meet interesting people. My job was to deliver important lab tests to the lab, make sure the IV bags were stocked, and make sure the nurses and doctors had the equipment that they needed for that specific patient. These are my three favorite volunteering experiences. I love spending time with my family. My time with my grandpa in the food pantry has led to my love for volunteering. When I attend college, I intend on finding a local food pantry to continue my volunteering experience. My religious life is also very important to me. I do not attend on continuing altar serving, but I do want to find a welcoming church when I go to college and I am open to the idea of volunteering there. UNC Rockingham Healthcare gave me an inside look at the medical field. Spending time with the emergency department staff helped me decide that I want to get a nursing degree.