I had once seen this quotation that read, ‘’ Out of one hundred of somethings, it only takes one to change your life.’’ Throughout my lifetime, I can say that I have been a great lover of both knowledge and entertainment, and what better combinations of the two than books and movies. While reading books has provided me with a vast vocabulary and a greater understanding of how the world works, I can argue that movies are just as important. Movies, as I like to say, are forms of art that pass right through us and straight to our hearts. They are cathartic in the sense that we can relate to the characters through being able to see exactly what they are going through, as opposed to books where you have to visualize things for yourself. Of all the great movies that I have watched that have taught me about love, friendship, sacrifice, resilience, and pain, I would have to say that the movie Poms has had the greatest impact on my life. This movie is focused around the protagonist Martha who moves to a retirement community where she finds a sisterhood and a new passion. Despite her condition, cancer, she makes the best of her last few months by forming a cheerleading team with her new friends and rehearsing for a competition. In spite of age, lack of experience, and physical impairments, the group of cheerleading sisters go on to show the world that competitions can be won simply through heart and dedication. With this wonderful event playing in her head, Martha is able to finally go in peace. My first reaction when watching this movie was a mixture of anger and loss. This movie came out in 2019, two years after I lost my grandfather to cancer. The reason this movie has had the greatest impact on my life was because it helped me to accept his death and learn to love him in his death. This movie helped to show me that despite the world seemingly being against innocent and kind hearted people like my grandfather who did not deserve to die from such an illness, joy and love can still be found even in the darkest of times. This movie helped me to reassess my life and see that life is short, and if you spend it drowning in the miseries of your situations, you are going to miss out on the beautiful things that life has to offer you.

Humans, as hard as we all try to fight it, are innately selfish individuals. When we all wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night, it is hard to disagree that our thoughts do not mainly involve ourselves. There is nothing wrong with that, I have come to learn. It is our life, after all, and truth be told why shouldn’t it be about us? The answer to the previous question is that we as individuals do not matter, but it is our contributions to the community that do. Historical figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Alexander the Great are not remembered for their great education and self accomplishments, but for their immensely impactful contributions to the world. This is the way in which all us humans should behave. We should all not think of our legacies we wish to leave behind but think of the kind of world we want to create and leave for the generations to come. This is what I intend to do with my degree. I intend not to satisfy my human cravings to want to be great and remembered for my accomplishments, but I wish to leave a mark on my community, no matter how big or small, and no matter if anyone knows that it was I. Since the time I was a little girl, a mere five years old, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in law. As I got older, I came to understand that my interest in this vocation did not rise from the aspiration to present arguments in a court room but from an aspiration to be an advocate for others. My current goal is to graduate high school with two years of college completed, so that in the next two I may finish my undergraduate and work towards obtaining my doctorate degree in law school. This goal is tied to my biggest goal of all, which is to give back to a community that has sustained me and many other children. As one gets older, they come to realize that their community is not just their familial village that helped to raise them or the community they live in, but it is people like them from all around the world. All of us, no matter from which parts of the world, are unknowingly apart of a community filled with others just like us. With my degree, I plan on providing free legal counsel to those who are unable to financially afford it. Many people in my community fit into the minority class, and because of it, are deemed unimportant by other lawyers. I hope to be a lawyer who focuses not on wealth that can be procured but on change that can be made in her community. In addition, I hope to dedicate my time, efforts, and wealth to creating schools for children where they can learn not only the fundamentals but also how to be a pillar in one’s community. On the topic of social work, I also aspire to be a speaker at events to inspire young girls and boys that regardless of social class, wealth, or race, through law and the goodness of their hearts, they can provide aid to their community and help to be the change they would like to see.

Often times, one will see that in this world, many people are ignorant to the sad realities that are many other people’s lives. We all go through life thinking that our only concern is our own life and allow others to simply disappear from our minds. Unbeknownst, this was the reality of my life: my only focus was myself, my goals, and my accomplishments, until I read George Orwell’s 1984. As children and young adults, we might often see our parents watching the news or hear them discussing it. Some of the things we see or hear astound us so much that it is all we can think about. Other times, we hear appalling things and allow ourselves to believe that they are merely not our concern and go on with our lives. After reading 1984, despite the many astounding and appalling things I came to understand about the world around me, I can still arguably claim that it is one of the greatest books one can read. As they say, reading is knowledge, this book not only proves one with immense knowledge about the world but also cures our ignorance. Having been living in the great country of the United States, I can admit that on more than one occasion I have taken advantage of the life I have here while not knowing the many hardships others have to face in different parts of the world. In his book, George Orwell paints a tragic but yet enlightening picture of a country and its people controlled by the Party and its leader Big Brother. In this country, they are not granted the same freedom as American citizens. They must agree with the Party, work for the Party, and worship the Party or risk being exposed, arrested, and vaporized. Unfortunately, this is the reality of many people who suffer under Communist regimes. The book helps to bring to light the difficulties many face in their lives and help to show those who are more fortunate how blessed they are. We should all strive, after reading this book, to continue to spread awareness to these cruelties and try to make a difference, no matter how big or small.

In the world we live in today, inequality and injustice are more than prevalent in the lives of many. In every corner of the world, there are people silently suffering from battles they are unable to deal with due to personal or financial disadvantages. At a young age, for most, we are spared from these realities and are able to see only the good in the world. Despite this, at the young age of five years old, without knowing what the vocation meant to the world, I aspired to be a lawyer. As they say, with age comes maturity, knowledge, and understanding, thus, by the time I grew from the age of five years old, the meaning behind what a lawyer truly is began to become evident. Being a lawyer entails more than simply crafting arguments to present in a court room. The vocation requires years of education, experience, skill, research, and hours of dedication. In today’s era, many lawyers have forgotten the reason why the profession was created. As a free country, we all have rights that we are freely and legally able to exercise, but sometimes, there will be many who try to infringe on those rights or many who use their rights incorrectly. Being a lawyer goes beyond the wealth that can be procured from practicing: it is about protecting and defending those mentioned above and ensuring that they are rightfully treated. On many different occasions in my life, I have witnessed and experienced injustice and inequality in many forms: financial, familial, and racial. These events in my life have led me to be even more certain about the profession I intend to pursue. As a lawyer, I aspire to be a voice for those who have lost theirs during the trials and hardships that they have faced. I also aspire to be a mirror to show those who they can be: advocates for themselves and others. My main goal for my criminal justice career is do to good for my community. I want to offer pro bono, or free legal services, to those in my community who need counsel but cannot afford it. I want to be a voice for the minorities who are often overlooked and not prioritized when it comes to cases other lawyers deem more important or higher paying. I hope to be the start of a new era where lawyers chase after cases that will change the world and impact the lives of many.

My dream version of myself is a me that is the face of a new era where people are not afraid to be selfless, put themselves on the line for one another, and desire to be advocates for those who have lost their voices in the mist of going through so much during their lifetimes.

In the world we live in today, everyone has or will have their fair share of challenges, whether they be personal obstacles, injustices, or worldly circumstances. From a young age, I came to realize these things—that everyone in the world is suffering a silent battle—and I knew that what I would do when I was older would help to alleviate some of those negative feelings. This is why, from the mere age of five years old, I knew that I wanted to be a lawyer. As I grew up, I learned that being a lawyer entailed far more than being in a courtroom all day giving arguments. Behind those arguments are countless hours of research, preparation, practice, and experience, which I will have gained through my own studies, passions, and college. One of my biggest passions is reading. Although not a lover of change or trying new things, I realized that there was so much to gain from reading different kinds of books. A wonderful piece of evidence for this is a quotation from the book Cuore: ‘’A person who reads only one book is like a person who associates with only one social class.’’ In accordance with this quotation, I realized that knowledge of how the world works can come from reading history, science, romance, classical, fantasy, and law books. On the other hand, I also realized that there is only so much learning you can do without the guidance of those who have been in your exact position, which is exactly why I aspire and plan on going to college. College, for a very long time in my life, has always been a goal. I have always dreamed and worked hard to get into a great college that will provide me with the tools I need to become a great lawyer. Although excited for college, there is an aspect of it that I know will be a challenge for me: acceptance. For all my life, I have always been head-strong and confident, meaning that I take to criticism and growth not so well. Over the years, I have been working on that, but I can say without a doubt that it will be continue to be something I will work on in college. As lawyers, and even as people, we all have to be open to the idea of growth. One cannot change the world if they cannot first be change they would like to see; and I most definitely plan on changing the world. As I mentioned earlier on, from a young age, I have always aspired to help others combat the challenges they deal with in their lives, and being a lawyer would help me to do so. Although not even an adult yet, throughout my years I have witnessed many injustices whether racial, familial, or school-related. Since then, I have taken it upon myself to be a voice for those who are too scared to use theirs and a mirror to show others who they can become: advocates. In a world where caring about others seems heterodox, I hope to be the face of a new era where being selfless and caring are qualities to be cherished and valued.

As one progresses through their years of school, they go through phases where they love math one day and dislike it for all the others. Math, like any other complex and mind-exploding subject is beautiful, but definitely not easy. I, for one, can provide a first hand account to prove this to be true. From the young age of four years old, I had shown to be precocious when it came to math. From the numbers to the jargon, math came easy to me. As I continued to age, so did the levels of math I worked in. I quickly advanced from simple arithmetic to more complex stages of math such as algebra, trigonometry, and pre-calculus in just a few years. In spite of math coming easily to me, this is not the reason why I love it. I love math for the challenges it presents, for the way all its concepts are connected, and for how intrinsic and complex it is. The true beauty of math, I have come to learn, is not found in its easiness, but rather in its challenges. Like the old saying goes, nothing good comes easy, and nothing easy is good. It is when I have difficulty in math— because no matter how good one may be at something, there is always room for improvement— that I fall in love with it even more. From the smallest bug to the biggest whale and from the small forest down the street to the Amazon, one can see how everything in this world, no matter how different, is connected. Math is not an exception. Not only are all of math’s concepts connected to one another, but they are connected to the world. How can one possibly live in a world they claim to love and not love math. Without it, we could not possibly begin to understand this planet we call home. Math is arguably one of the most beautiful subjects. Its intrinsic and complex properties are what contribute to its beauty. Math deserves to be loved and admired not only by me, but by every student in this world.