My peak in high school was in the ninth grade but you would think you have your peak in as a junior or better yet, a senior but that depends on your definition of "peak". I define peak as my worst moments. I was one of the "popular girls" who was pure with a "popular" best friend. We dressed in skinny jeans and tight shirts with purses and always had to look...cute. Although it was reasonable to not have your style figured out at that age, what if was a case of trying to be like everyone else and being oblivious to it? Well, that was me in my freshman year. There always had to be a new boy and girl drama, I always had to dress to impress. My attitude was never bad, and I was known as a nice short girl with a pretty body shape. I also got along with everybody and didn't stick to the well-known kids. I would only hang out with them and play around with them every once and a while. I made outstanding grades but could be wild and so-called "rachet" at times. These were the time most guys tried to talk to me, and I was constantly surrounded by the cool kids. My best friend was truly a well-known pretty girl, but she'd rather hang out together. However, I knew for some reason I didn't fit in 100% in her world. I believe we all got a lot more self-conscious when COVID hit, and I had a lot of time to reflect on myself at home during my online sophomore year. I came to realize that I was not the girly girl or popular girl people made me out to be and who I tried to be. I never wanted to wear a purse, wear tight clothes all the time, wear makeup or lashes, or know all the drama. I became a different person when I left the crowd. I found my passion for singing and music, and a unique style of clothing. I made my definition of dressing cute and dressed for myself and no one else. It helped me to be more confident once I came back to school for my junior year. I stayed to myself and observed who was for me and who was not for me and if I knew that I was surrounded by someone I would have to change myself for, they were not for me. I still made good grades and had a great attitude and stopped caring what others thought of me. I no longer had to seek approval from anyone but God because worrying about other people makes me lose all energy to reflect on how I see myself and what I think about myself. Now I walk and speak with more confidence in myself than I had before, ready to jump into a new chapter of my life in college.

When I was in the eighth- grade I became the first cheer captain of a new K-8 school. Leading classmates younger than me at times became a struggle. Some kids were fresh out of elementary, and others could not stay on the beat of certain cheers. I had to learn to breathe, stay calm and find new and effective ways to help the team improve: exploiting our strengths and weaknesses and finding ways to maintain a healthy and stable relationship with everyone equally. Unfortunately, I was not always a good cheer captain. One day I had a bad day at school, I was irritated, and I was angry, and it showed during the after-school practice. I did not show good leadership skills. I acted like I did not want to cheer, I was not loud, and I did the moves with little effort and low energy and just did not want to call or lead the cheers. The co-captain saw my actions and my cheer mates didn't understand why I acted so out of character. You wouldn't even be able to tell who the cheer captain was if you were there to analyze our practice that day. Then my coach sat me down at the end of practice and told me how I shouldn't have acted the way I did and how I must fight through my emotions and not let the team see that side of me because it could weigh the whole team down. My coach told me that I could not lead the cheers for the next day's game until the third quarter. I was upset with myself because I loved cheering and I knew what I did was wrong. I realized that the team will be affected at the game the next day, so I had to make it right. The next day was game day and before we went out to the field to start the game up, I apologized and told them that I was wrong to have acted that way towards them as their captain and from now on I would not act on my emotions and build this team even stronger. They accepted my apology, but I could tell they were all nervous because they did not get effective practice the day before because of me. As the first two quarters were in play it was a little rocky, the co-captain and others did not know the right cheers to call at the correct times. Everyone was moving around talking and out of place, and we were not as loud and confident as we usually were. We were all affected by how we felt even though we knew we could do better. However, once the third quarter hit, I thought to myself it was my time to bounce back and be the leader everyone needed me to be from the beginning. I put on a true big smile, encouraged the whole team, and called the first cheer of the third quarter loud and proud with 100% effort. Everyone got their confidence back and from my teammates watching how I disregarded the lack of confidence we all had before, they were all inspired to do the same and finish the game strong. The team became more relaxed and started having fun letting go of our burdens. I had never acted that way towards them again and some teammates would let each other know if they had a bad day so we could encourage them to not submit to their emotions. So, we cheered our hearts out, loud, and proud with 100% effort!

There are too many songs out there for me that have important messages and it is hard to choose one, but if I had to write about one, it would be a song called Cheese by Stray Kids (SKZ), a Korean pop group. The title can be a little funny but that is the point of this track. In this song, SKZ sing about how unique, bold, and peculiar they are therefore, they tell their critiques, or simply put "haters", that they can keep laughing at them all they want because they won't stop for anybody. All in all, they speak on their haters that unintentionally make them even more successful. This songs shows that SKZ have no regard for their haters. Even the melody of the song is a taunt or childish one. The melody it self is sings "Na Na Na Boo Boo". All of this together brings in why this song has the most important message to me and that is because it shows that it is okay for me to be and "alien" and "funny" to some people. It's okay for people to look at me sideways when I know I'm doing what I love to do. The message in this song is to stay true to yourself and not letting other people bring you down even though they may make fun of you or talk about you. Being that isolated individual will help you stand out more and be a role model to other people, showing others what it means to be different while being yourself. Not only is this song about being laughed at but if you listen to it they literally do talk about cheese!

DUI's are a problem that is faced by many people. "Drunk driving accidents are responsible for 10,000 deaths every year, and about 1/3 of all traffic-related deaths", according to the NHTSA. The effects of DUI's are jail time, heavy fines or license suspension. It can also come with shame, grief and addiction that can be stuck with you forever, let alone this could kill the driver under the influence or someone else. Sadly, the driver would have to bear the fact that they could have possibly killed or injured an individual, or their family would have to live and suffer from their loved one being dead because of it. . Ways an individual could prevent this is most importantly, have a designated driver or call an Uber or Lyft so that driving for the drinker is out of the question. Another way is by an individual drinking responsibly, knowing their limits or having real friends that will help them and make sure they don't get out of control. An individual needs to know when enough is enough so they won't make even bigger lapse of judgment or completely out of control decisions that could urge them to drive or harm themselves or others. Also, the easiest way to never worry about drunk driving is not drinking at all. That can be a bummer for most people but it is the most efficient way to prevent such a cause. All in all, all communities need to continue to let young people know the effects and ways to prevent drunk driving constantly to break possible long-term habits while their young. Not only young people, but adults also, because everyone can be irresponsible at times but some actions have bigger consequences than others. It is important that we keep this movement alive for the safety of our communities in the future.