I remember from a young age that my father has told me "Things are generally cheaper to do yourself than to buy from the store or hire a service" and that has stuck with me for a very long time. He'd told me this while I was helping his bleed the breaks on our van. Dad opened the hood and pointed at a tube. "It would have cost $87 for me to take this somewhere to fix the leak," He looked at me. "It cost me $8 to fix it myself." Ever since then, I've been set on fixing things myself rather than paying someone else to do it, and he was right. By learning to do and fix things myself, I am able to spend less than I would if I were to pay someone else to do it during their own time. Not only do I learn a valuable skill that I can use for the rest of my life, but I also save money and am given the potential to even make money by doing that service for others and asking a small fee for the time that I put into it. This is why this is the most helpful piece of financial advice I've ever received, as well as the piece of advice that I use the most.

I've always been told that it is important to set goals. Overwise, what are you truly working towards? Throughout my life, I've always made sure to set goals, things that I can work towards, things that I want to happen. At the public school that I went to, not a lot of people really had big goals that they were chasing. Most of them just wanted to stay around that small town and continue to party with their friends. That, however, wouldn't work for me. I wanted to achieve things. I have several goals for the future, and a lot of them are goals that I've been working towards for a long time. One of which being to graduate with exceptional grades and to bring that drive to university with me. As of right now, I'm set to graduate 3rd in my class with a GPA of 3.96 and I have plans to put in the work and do the same in university. My goals for my career are to be the best that I can be as a human being and be a respectable individual in the equine industry. I'm going to university for Equestrian studies, and I want to do the best that I can do with that. I want to be able to be independent in my career and repay the people that helped me get to where I am. As for my personal goals, I want to be the best version of myself. I want to learn to love myself as much as I love others and take care of everything that I can. I have a goal to be a friend to everyone that needs one. I want to be able to take care of both myself and others as much as I can.

Selflessness to me is to be more concerned about others than I am for myself. To care about the health and wellbeing of others rather than one's self. It's helping others in need because there are always people in this world that could use some help. It's important to be committed to being selfless and to helping others because we never know when we might need someone else to be selfless and help us in a time of need. One of the most important reasons why I am committed to being selfless is because of my parents. Being a low-income family, they've never truly had a lot of things. Despite this, they ensure that my brother and I get the best that we can get so that we are able to succeed academically as well as in our personal lives. Their selflessness for us as their children is what introduced me to being selfless and helping others. While there were times when they were struggling, they always made sure that the people around them didn't have to struggle. This newfound sense of selflessness opened several opportunities for me to give back to my community. Commonly, this is done through volunteering or donating things. These are two things that I was able to pick up from my parents. Their selflessness has been a great influential factor in the way that I help others. They've shown me that by being selfless and helping others, others will also be more likely to be selfless and help you in return when you are in a time of need. While it can be difficult to help others while you are struggling yourself, being selfless is more rewarding than being selfish. I encourage others to be the same and give back to their communities!

I'm using a PC that I was able to build with my brother sitting next to a piece of art that my mom made for me years ago. When I look to my left, I have my acceptance letter to my dream university. My cat is playing with a cat toy that I made for her and I can hear my puppy playing with a bright orange rope that my dad bought for him when the old blue rope got destroyed. With all of this joy that I am surrounded by, it is incredibly difficult to feel gratitude throughout my life every day. The way that I remember to live with gratitude and truly appreciate everything that I have is by listing all of the good things that are in my life, and to be honest, it is an incredibly long list. When I think about all of the good in my life, it helps to brighten my day, even if my day was going terribly previously. Sometimes when my anxiety gets bad, listing these good things in my mind or writing them down can help to keep me grounded and remember that there is so much good in my life despite the anxiety that I am feeling in that moment. Sometimes it feels like nothing good is happening and everything is going wrong, but it's important to remember to be grateful for the good things that have happened. A lot of the good things have come from strenuously difficult work and hours upon hours of preparation. I always make sure to truly appreciate the good things that have happened and be grateful for everything that I have.

Creativity is incredibly important to me, and it is something that I incorporate into my life every day that I can. While I apply creativity in my life in several different ways, a couple of the most important ways that I apply creativity in my life is through how I can apply it artistically through my painting and participating in my high school band. Through painting, I am able to not only alleviate stress but also show my creativity in a fun matter that others can view and appreciate. Painting helps me creatively express my feeling and it also gives me a physical product that I can look back on. With our high school band, playing my tenor saxophone gives me the ability to both process my emotions and convey the emotions from the music to an appreciative audience. Music is one of my favorite ways to be creative. There is so much music available to play and there is so much music that I can write. Creativity is so important to have, and it's something that I think can set me aside from other people. While I apply creativity in my life in several different ways, these two things are two of the most important to me.

The financial aspect of college is the most intimidating aspect of going to college for me. I'm not incredibly worried about being away from home, or the seemingly increased expectations when it comes to schoolwork and grading criteria. I'm worried about college debt and the financial burden that college will likely give to both me and my parents. My biggest plan to try to avoid immense amounts of college debt is to apply to as many scholarships as I can. My name is Allison and I'm a senior at Potterville High School! Both of my parents now work at Potterville public schools, so all three of us are involved at my school. I'm 18 years old and I love to read, write, knit, crochet, and spend time with horses. I've always wanted to work with horses ever since I was just a little girl, but they're expensive! Not only are horses expensive, but college is also expensive as well. College debt is easily the most intimidating aspect about going to college. To avoid college debt, I plan on applying to as many scholarships as I can to assist in lessening the financial burden of attending college. While scholarships likely wont cover an immense amount of the costs, they can still help tremendously. Generally, students that apply to scholarships do not win all of the scholarships that they apply for, which leads students to apply to as many as they can. I plan to apply to scholarships ranging from weird topics, ones that are difficult to apply for, ones that are specific to the area that I want to study and ones that are specific to me, my interests, and my hobbies. During college prep, I was told that it would cost me less to pay as much as I can early on student loans that I may have to get. By paying it earlier, I was told that I could avoid the interest rates set on my loans. With that in mind, I plan to try to pay my loans off as quickly as I can. Additionally, I plan to participate in work study. By doing work study, I will be able to work and earn money to go towards paying for college. Not only does this give me work experience that I can bring to future employers, my life, and my academics, but I also earn money to help pay for college. Finally, I've been given the opportunity to take college classes during high school through a program with my high school and a community college in our area. By earning these free college credits in high school, it will save me from needing to pay to take those classes when I go into college.

"Someone who is generous is more appreciated than someone who is selfish,". A phrase that I was told once, but never understood until I reached the 8th grade. Generosity to me is the opposite of selfishness. It means to be selfless and give someone something, or to give up something of mine to give something to someone else or do something for someone else. Like giving my time to help someone else with something, or giving my knowledge to someone else that want's to hear it and would benefit from my knowledge. Generosity is doing something that I think that people should do because they want to or because they know that it's the right thing to do. Generosity is being kind to others and caring for others. It's like a willingness to give to others, not because one wants recognition, but because it can make others incredibly happy. I think generosity is almost like a disposition. As if it's a moral that some people naturally have and an aspect that others work to try to have. Being generous can help me feel like I have a true purpose to help others and do the right thing, and I think everyone should try to work towards being a more generous individual.

Studying is one of the most crucial parts of achieving academic success, and with so many study strategies, it can be difficult to find one that works for you! After a long search in middle school for my best study strategies, I found a few that worked for me. One of my favorite study strategies is to take periodic breaks throughout my study sessions. I've found that studying for hours on end doesn't necessarily help, but it can also leave one stressed and overwhelmed. I find that it benefits me the most when I study for 45 minutes and take a 10-minute break before continuing on again. Studying can also be the most tedious, miserable thing that we have to do as students. To put off my misery of studying for the test that I have tomorrow, I'll usually get a healthy snack to eat while I'm studying and fill my water jug to drink from. It's important to be to have food and water available to me. With both of those, it can help me focus better on the task at hand. Studying is so important when working towards achieving academic success, and I'm learned that, especially with the college classes that I've taken for my last two years of high school. There are so many "study hacks" out on the internet that it can be difficult to find one that truly works for each individual person. I've found for myself, that my top few things are taking breaks, having a healthy snack while I study, and having plenty of water to drink.

We all hear wise things throughout our lives. Whether or not we incorporate these things into our lives, however, is up to us. I think the wisest thing that I've ever heard is that "sometimes it is a good thing to be afraid and uncomfortable". This is a concept that took me a fair amount of time to learn, understand, and incorporate into my life, but once I did, it changed my life. For me, it made being afraid and uncomfortable less scary and uncomfortable. This sentence shows that being afraid and uncomfortable is not always a bad thing, it can benefit us. We have the most growth outside of our comfort zone, but being outside of our comfort zone is a scary thing to deal with. The problem with being in our comfort zone, is we don't always reach all of our opportunities to learn and grow. I consider this the wisest thing I've heard because it is an important concept to grasp. Sometimes, we sit and wonder why we aren't going anywhere or accomplishing anything, but it's because we are nice and cozy in our comfort zone and we won't branch out to expand that zone. If we're afraid to be afraid and uncomfortable, we can't accomplish much.

"You will either have good grades with no social life or a good social life with bad grades," This is what we were told at our high school freshman orientation. My friends and I instantly looked at each other, eyebrows raised. People immediately began to chatter about who would have good grades and who would have a social life, almost as if it were a competition. The idea that we would have to choose between schoolwork and hanging out with our friends was ludicrous to us. While we shrugged it off at the time, we realized throughout our freshman year that it was right. "I can't, I have to study for my history test" "I have so much algebra homework this weekend" "I have to call a rain check, I have an essay due tomorrow" Before we knew it, our friend group was more just a study group, and we never wanted it to become that serious. I feared that once we graduated and left for college that we would never truly talk to each other. I ended up doing a deep dive into the internet junior year of high school to see any tips and tricks for keeping good friends while also having good grades. It all came down to time management and self-care. Eventually, we make a plan to manage our time better and set aside time to take care of ourselves and each other. I can now happily say that we all have put aside time to be together without talking about schoolwork, and we all have been less stressed because of it. We're able to take long car rides and get food together to relax, and while our grades are still top our class, our group is now closer than ever.

"If you can't listen to your friends you're not a very good friend," one of my friends once said to me while ranting about someone else. Ever since then, that sentence has stuck with me. If you can't listen, why would people talk to you? To me, listening means that you pay attention, or that you care about what other people have to say. When you listen to someone, they seem to gain a fair amount of respect for you. Adding to that, when you listen to other people, other people tend to begin to listen to you. To actively listen, you need to pay attention to others and pay attention to what's happening around you. Paying attention is important to me when trying to actively listen. If you're not paying attention, you're not really listening. When I actively listen to the people around me, I pay attention to how they act around me and the way they talk to me. This way, I know if something is wrong or they need something. Listening is incredibly important, especially when listening to friends.

Simple pleasures are important to embrace, and my favorite simple pleasure is taking a walk with my dogs. Walking gives me an opportunity to both clear my own mind and bond with my dogs. After a long day, it's incredibly relaxing to just take a walk down the road, listening to music or listening to the wind blow the leaves in the trees and the birds singing their songs. My mind feels like it's cluttered a lot. Sometimes with a few big things, sometimes it's cluttered with too many small things to count. A cluttered mind to me feels like a hindrance; like I'm trapped inside a messy room that I'm too tired to clean. Walking outside and experiencing nature with my dogs feels almost as if I'm gained back enough energy to clean out the clutter and make it easier to think. It makes me happy to spend time with my dogs outside. It's like self-care for me in a sense. Getting off my phone, away from schoolwork for a little while, escaping any of the teenage high school drama to take a breath of fresh air; it's refreshing. Another simple pleasure in my life is sitting outside by a tree on our property in the woods. The calmness of nature around me as I just sit there and breathe. The birds chirping and the sun shining through the treetops. Just to simply exist is such a beautiful thing, and that is something that I enjoy incredibly much.

I've had the same goal since I was three years old. Hello! My name is Allison and I'm a senior at Potterville High School! Both of my parents now work at Potterville public schools, which I think is cool! I'm 18 years old and I love to read, write, and spend time with horses. I've always wanted to work with horses ever since I was just a little girl, but they are expensive! My family never had enough money to own horses, so I'm hoping that my experience at UF will help jumpstart my dreams of working with horses. While horses are expensive, so is University and the things that I need to attend. On top of expenses like tuition, I also have a long list of horse tack that I need in order to be successful in the University that I am going to go to. My goals are to go to The University of Findlay for Equestrian Studies - Western riding/training emphasis to learn more about riding and training horses. After University, I want to train performance horses and horses that can be used in therapeutic riding programs. Winning this scholarship will help me tremendously. Out-of-state tuition is expensive and seems impossible to pay for, but all of the tack that I need for my equestrian studies classes are also increasingly expensive, even when buying used tack. This scholarship can help ease the costs that I will be given and help bring me closer to achieving my goals and dreams!

Education and life are both incredibly important privileges that I am lucky to have. With my education, my goal is to graduate from university with immense knowledge and know-how about horses that I can bring into my personal life and my career. My dream ever since I was a little girl was to become a horse trainer and to be able to ride horses in my career. As I got closer to graduating from high school and choosing what colleges/universities I wanted to apply to, my dream quickly became my goal. My parents are the reasons behind it all. They've inspired me and pushed me to do great things and to keep doing great things. They want me to do what makes me happy. My mom has always believed in me, and that is enough to help keep me motivated towards reaching my goals. We've had numerous discussion about my future career and what I want to do, and she would always tell me "You want to work with horses... so do it,". I see my vision impacting the world positively in the future by showing people that dreams can become a reality if you work hard enough, I want to show people that you don't have to have a career that you hate, you can have a career that makes you happy and excited to work. When I was first considering working towards making horses my career, I never thought it would work. We never had the money to own horses of our own while I was growing up, so I would always have to go elsewhere to get horse experience. To me, my experiences weren't good enough, and I would never make it in the equine industry because of that. As I've gotten older and learned more, I now realize that I'm not worth less than others just because I don't have prior experience owning horses, that just means that I have the opportunity to work that much harder to make it work and make a name for myself in the industry. That's a lesson that I want to be able to teach others. You don't have to have everything together the whole time. I want to teach the younger generations of equine lovers that if you want a career with horses, you don't need to be raised on a ranch or raised around horses. Your experiences are not worth less than others simply because you weren't raised in the same environment. I made my dream into my goal, I want to show others that they can do the same.

As a student from a low-income family, I am well aware of how big of a difference $1,000 can make. If I were to have $1,000 right now, I know for certain that everything would go towards lessening the financial burden of going to university. I would have to make the choice whether it goes towards buying the supplies that I need for school, such as books and tack that I need for my western equine studies classes, gas money to get from the main campus to the school's western barn, or to use it to lessen the burden of tuition in general. If I were to use it for tack, I would be able to buy better quality items that would last me a long time, even well into my future career in the expensive equine industry. It would help make this aspect less of a struggle. If I were to use it for gas money to get from the main campus to the university's western barn for my classes, I wouldn't have to worry about the always-rising gas prices and focus more on my studies. However, more importantly, if I were to get $1,000 right now to help pay my tuition, it would help lessen the financial burden on my family. Paying out-of-state tuition for a private university is expensive, and I know that it would help both me and my family immensely.

Mental health is one of the most important things, yet so much stigma continues to loom around the topic. A topic that is talked about more now than it was 20 years ago, but a topic still not spoken about often enough. I know so many people that are affected by mental health, myself included, and it has shaped our views and understanding of the world around us. My experience with mental health, both with mine and with others, has taught me that I need to go out into the world and experience things. Struggling with mental health makes you feel so isolated, and I've lost a lot of friends to the isolation of mental health. I've learned that I need to take advantage of every moment that I get to be with my friends and family, to spend time doing things I love, and experience new things that I probably wouldn't have been able to experience 5 years ago. Now, my mental health is doing well. I've learned the importance of taking care of my mental health, just as much as taking care of my physical health. When something doesn't feel right or I don't feel good, I take a step back and take care of it before it gets worse. With better mental health, I find that I can focus better and work harder towards my goals.

A bucket list is something that everyone has, whether they write it out physically or not. We all have things that we want to do and places we want to see. I think it's important to have a bucket list. Here are the top 3 things that I've achieved so far in the 18 years of my life! One of the top things that I've achieved so far is going to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and visiting Mackinac Island. I went one summer with my family on a family camping vacation and it was easily one of the best experiences I'm had thus far in my life. I was able to learn a lot about Michigan's history and experience so many new things. My second favorite thing that I've been able to cross off my bucket list is adopting a puppy. I adopted my puppy Apollo in mid-June 2021, and he was easily one of the best things that have ever happened to me. He's so much fun around, but I've also learned so much from him and he's built up my confidence more than I ever would've imagined. My third favorite accomplishment not particularly third seeing as it's tied with my second favorite thing. Regardless, my third bucket list achievement is getting accepted to the University of Findlay for Equine studies, especially accepted as an Honors Student! Three things that are still on my bucket list are to own a mustang. These wild horses are such an inspiration to me, and my dream is to be able to train these beautiful animals. My next one is to finish this year graduating 3rd in my class. Finally, when I graduate from UF, I want to get a job with horses that I've wanted to do all of my life.

Hobbies are typically inspired by an interest. For me, a hobby is something that I can do when I am stressed, anxious, upset, mad, or burnt out. My favorite hobbies are knitting and crocheting. While I have other hobbies, those two are my favorite. They can be done anywhere you can take a ball of yarn and a crochet hook or knitting needles. The creative freedom that they give to me to create whatever comes to mind is incredibly rewarding. Knitting and crocheting are my favorite hobbies because I can get a physical representation of what I spent my time doing and a physical object that I can continue using. Knitting and crocheting are two things that are relaxing for me to take part in. There are several different ways that I can do them. I can watch videos while doing them, listen to music, or I can simply sit in silence and focus on the yarn and the movements of my hands. It's peaceful to be alone with myself, the colored yarn, the clicking of the knitting needles, or the sweeping motion of my hand with the crochet hook. Most importantly, they're my favorite hobby because they are physical objects that I can give to others. The joy on someone's face when they receive a scarf or a hat that I've made for them is just as rewarding as creating the object.

I remember from a young age that my father has told me "Things are generally cheaper to do yourself than to buy from the store or hire a service" and that has stuck with me for a very long time. He'd told me this while I was helping his bleed the breaks on our van. Dad opened the hood and pointed at a tube. "It would have cost $87 for me to take this somewhere to fix the leak," He looked at me. "It cost me $8 to fix it myself." Ever since then, I've been set on fixing things myself rather than paying someone else to do it, and he was right. By learning to do and fix things myself, I am able to spend less than I would if I were to pay someone else to do it during their own time. Not only do I learn a valuable skill that I can use for the rest of my life, but I also save money and am given the potential to even make money by doing that service for others and asking a small fee for the time that I put into it. This is why this is the most helpful piece of financial advice I've ever received, as well as the piece of advice that I use the most.

Talent, skill, perseverance, hope. These are some of the many things that we as readers can gather from the book The Maze Runner by James Dashner. A group of individuals left with nothing and build up their own community and system to survive, just to have it ripped away from them and need to persevere past the hardships thrown to them. The strength that it takes for the group to persevere and push forward in the hopes of getting a better life once they escape. It's inspiring to me because it shows that if you have a strong group of friends, a strong support system, you can accomplish anything. With a strong support system and hope, you can get past even the hardest of situations. This book shows how important teamwork is and how important it is to be able to work together with others, especially in stressful situations. This book shows the importance of not giving up when times get hard. If the group had given up searching the maze for an exit when they couldn't find it right away, they likely never would've known enough about the maze to escape them the time came. It proves that by not giving up on certain things that seem impossible, you can accomplish other, more difficult things in the future. I find The Maze Runner by James Dashner to be one of the most inspiring books that I've read. This is because of the fact that it shows how important it is to have a strong support system, be able to persevere, the importance of hope. With these things, it shows that you can accomplish anything and live the best life you can.

Talent, skill, perseverance, hope. These are some of the many things that we as readers can gather from the book The Maze Runner by James Dashner. A group of individuals left with nothing and build up their own community and system to survive, just to have it ripped away from them and need to persevere past the hardships thrown to them. The strength that it takes for the group to persevere and push forward in the hopes of getting a better life once they escape. It's inspiring to me because it shows that if you have a strong group of friends, a strong support system, you can accomplish anything. With a strong support system and hope, you can get past even the hardest of situations. This book shows how important teamwork is and how important it is to be able to work together with others, especially in stressful situations. This book shows the importance of not giving up when times get hard. If the group had given up searching the maze for an exit when they couldn't find it right away, they likely never would've known enough about the maze to escape them the time came. It proves that by not giving up on certain things that seem impossible, you can accomplish other, more difficult things in the future. I find The Maze Runner by James Dashner to be one of the most inspiring books that I've read. This is because of the fact that it shows how important it is to have a strong support system, be able to persevere, the importance of hope. With these things, it shows that you can accomplish anything and live the best life you can.

The determination to succeed and accomplish things that I was told I cannot do is something that motivates me on a daily basis. I want to succeed with my dreams, and people have told me that I will never be able to do that. I work as hard as I can every day to be able to accomplish my dreams and do what makes me happy. This is something that my mom taught me when I was younger. If someone tells you that you can't do something that you want to do because of the situation you're in or the situations you grew up with, you need to work as hard as you can to prove that you can do it. It is possible. Every day that I am motivated to get out of bed and work as hard as I can is a day closer to succeeding and accomplishing my dreams. However, while other people tell me that I can't do it, I am my own motivator. I have the determination and the discipline to motivate myself and do what I need to do and do what needs to be done. I always want to be the best version of myself that I can be, and I know that being motivated and determined without any need or cause is one of my top priorities.

"A person can find joy in anything if they look hard enough" This is something that I repeat in my head as often as I can. Joy is everywhere, happiness is everywhere. While it is everywhere, it can often be difficult to define. I think joy is when you feel so happy that you don't remember what sad is. So happy that you can't help but have a smile on your face that reaches your eyes. To me, joy is that last sip of hot chocolate I take while I watch my puppy play in the freshly laid snow. Getting an A on that test that I studied for. Joy is the grin on my mom's face as we drive down the dusty dirt road and smell the mint field. I find joy wherever I can, because I know there have been times when I couldn't find joy in anything. Now, I actively seek out joy. When I go out with my friends, there's so much joy in that. The heartwarming laughter and contagious smiles are two things that give joy to not only me but my friends as well. In search of joy, I spend time with my puppy. The way his ears flop about as he runs with me and the way his goofy tongue will hang out of the side of his mouth while he waits for his belly rubs always brings an undeniable smile to my face. I do believe that there is joy in everything. Every day that we go out into the world, and even every day we stay home, there is always a joy to be found. We have to look for it; I do that every chance I get.

Skill: the ability to do something well, to be able to perform a task with a certain sense of expertise and confidence. To me, skill doesn't have to be a physical ability or a physical task that you are able to do. A skill can also be a mentality, a mental ability, a trait that you have or have worked on to become a better, stronger person. My best skill is my ability to bounce back and be resilient. When things get stressful, I've learned to not shut down, but to rather deal with it head-on. While other people may shut down about different mishaps or challenges, I'm able to work my way through them. I can be proactive about my challenges and my stressors. If I don't allow the stressors to shut me down, I can be more productive, and that, in turn, helps build my confidence as well. Improvement with mental skills can often be challenging, depending on what's being worked on. My way of improving my skill to bounce back is to consciously make the decision to not shut down when things get stressful, to not sit there and stay silent about a potential problem that I have. While it can be difficult at times, a skill like this is well worth it and important to have.

I know it may sound strange, but the song that inspires me the most is Sleigh Ride. Not just any Sleigh Ride, but the song that my high school band plays every year for our Christmas concert. Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson is the song that inspires me the most because it is the epitome of growth for our high school band. When we start playing it as freshmen, it can be intimidating. Cut time is something that we hadn't done extensively, the tempo is faster than anything we did previously, and there are notes that most freshmen had never seen before. It's overwhelming, it's scary, and the seniors act like it's easy! Sophomore year, Sleigh Ride is a little more manageable. We understand the basics and we are able to see ourselves improve in areas we were never able to play well during our freshmen year. While it's still one of the harder songs, we dislike playing it a little bit less. Junior year, Sleigh Ride is almost a walk in the park. We understand the rhythms and the notes and we can play it well. We're actually starting to like the song? Senior year. I look back at freshmen year and I'm genuinely impressed with the growth that we seniors have made throughout our years of playing the song. We can hold the song up on our own now, and we understand it well enough to help others learn the song and pass down tips or tricks on how to play it easier. Sleigh Ride inspires me so much. It gave me an opportunity to learn and grow, without even realizing it. I was able to truly see how far I've come as a musician during my four years in high school. It inspires me to continue growing.

Losing a family member is always an incredibly difficult thing to heal from, but I think losing a family member during a pandemic while doing online schooling and being your own motivator is something that has been the hardest situation for me to cope with. On the other side of it now, I'm grateful for the way that I was able to be resilient and continue to strive to be the best version of myself. I lost my Grandma Rosie in September of 2020. After losing her, it was difficult to feel like getting out of bed to do my schoolwork on the computer was worth it. Since it was a pandemic, my family wasn't able to get together to mourn her loss together. We were all completely on our own. While it was difficult, one of the most important things that I've been taught was to be resilient. To be tough. To bounce back. So that's what I did, I was tough. I gathered the strength and motivation to get up to do my schoolwork and continue on, attempting to make sure to do things that would make Grandma Rosie proud of me. On the other side of it now, I'm still healing from it, but I'm grateful for the way that I was able to cope with such a different and difficult situation for me. I knew that giving up and not doing anything was not an option, so I was resilient, and I persevered.

Happiness is something that people are always trying to chase. Everyone wants to be happy, and everyone deserves to be happy. While happiness can be difficult to find, we can gather happiness from just about anything if we search for it. This is why I find questions like this are difficult to answer, there are so many things that make me happy that I don't know how to write about them! Things that make me happy are things such as getting an A in my classes, getting praise for an essay that I wrote for my English class, or playing that one section of music right in band class when I've gotten it wrong so many times. While these academic achievements bring me happiness, there are other, more important things that bring me great amounts of joy and happiness. Things like when I get to spend time with my mom, dad, and brother laughing and getting the opportunity to experience new things with them. We go camping together with the dogs so often, and I have so many happy memories from that. Horses bring me immense amounts of happiness as well, which is why I am going to the University of Findlay for Equestrian Studies. I love horses, and I always have. It makes me incredibly happy that I am able to major in Equestrian Studies at UF. The braveness that I can get from being around horses and the wings that they give me to soar are irreplaceable. There are so many things that make me happy that I could make a list a mile long. Sometimes it's difficult to find joy and happiness in things, but I truly believe that happiness can be found through anything.

"Sometimes it is a good thing to be afraid and uncomfortable". This is a concept that took me a fair amount of time to learn and understand, but once I did, it changed my life. For me, it made being afraid and uncomfortable less scary and uncomfortable. This sentence shows that being afraid and uncomfortable is not always a bad thing, it can benefit us. We have the most growth outside of our comfort zone, but being outside of our comfort zone is a scary thing to deal with. The problem with being in our comfort zone, is we don't always reach all of our opportunities to learn and grow. I would share this sentence because it is an important concept to grasp. Sometimes, we sit and wonder why we aren't going anywhere or accomplishing anything, but it's because we are nice and cozy in our comfort zone and we won't branch out to expand that zone. If we're afraid to be afraid and uncomfortable, we can't accomplish much. It's something that I still have to work on, but after I learned about it and started incorporating it into my life, several things became so much easier to do simply because I wasn't afraid to do them.

Legacy: a legacy is something that one leaves behind once they're gone, something that can define a person, a stamp on the future, something that is difficult to think about when it comes to your own. While trying to answer this question, I had to think about what legacies have been left by my past family members. I know my Great Grandma’s resilient legacy lives on through her children, her grandchildren, and even down to her great-grandchildren. When I think about it, I want my legacy to be that I cared about my passions. I want to be remembered as someone that chased their dreams and turned them into a reality. I want to be a respectable person with a legacy that can live on through my children, friends, and anyone that knew me. I want this to be my legacy because not letting your passions and dreams remain to be just dreams is important to me. I want that to be my legacy because I want people to be as inspired by my legacy just as much as my Great Grandma’s resilient legacy inspires me. It can be scary to chase dreams and follow passions that one has, it may seem unattainable, but I want my legacy to show people that pursuing their passions is an attainable goal and their dreams can, in fact, become a reality. I’ve worked towards making my passions and dreams become reality, and I want to inspire others to do the same.

We all hear wise things throughout our lives. Whether or not we incorporate these things into our lives, however, is up to us. I think the wisest thing that I've ever heard is that "sometimes it is a good thing to be afraid and uncomfortable". This is a concept that took me a fair amount of time to learn, understand, and incorporate into my life, but once I did, it changed my life. For me, it made being afraid and uncomfortable less scary and uncomfortable. This sentence shows that being afraid and uncomfortable is not always a bad thing, it can benefit us. We have the most growth outside of our comfort zone, but being outside of our comfort zone is a scary thing to deal with. The problem with being in our comfort zone, is we don't always reach all of our opportunities to learn and grow. I consider this the wisest thing I've heard because it is an important concept to grasp. Sometimes, we sit and wonder why we aren't going anywhere or accomplishing anything, but it's because we are nice and cozy in our comfort zone and we won't branch out to expand that zone. If we're afraid to be afraid and uncomfortable, we can't accomplish much.

"Someone who is generous is more appreciated than someone who is selfish,". A phrase that I was told once, but never understood until I reached the 8th grade. Generosity to me is the opposite of selfishness. It means to be selfless and give someone something, or to give up something of mine to give something to someone else or do something for someone else. Like giving my time to help someone else with something, or giving my knowledge to someone else that want's to hear it and would benefit from my knowledge. Generosity is doing something that I think that people should do because they want to or because they know that it's the right thing to do. Generosity is being kind to others and caring for others. It's like a willingness to give to others, not because one wants recognition, but because it can make others incredibly happy. I think generosity is almost like a disposition. As if it's a moral that some people naturally have and an aspect that others work to try to have. Being generous can help me feel like I have a true purpose to help others and do the right thing, and I think everyone should try to work towards being a more generous individual.

Hobbies are typically inspired by an interest. For me, a hobby is something that I can do when I am stressed, anxious, upset, mad, or burnt out. My favorite hobbies are knitting and crocheting. While I have other hobbies, those two are my favorite. They can be done anywhere you can take a ball of yarn and a crochet hook or knitting needles. The creative freedom that they give to me to create whatever comes to mind is incredibly rewarding. Knitting and crocheting are my favorite hobbies because I can get a physical representation of what I spent my time doing and a physical object that I can continue using. Knitting and crocheting are two things that are relaxing for me to take part in. There are several different ways that I can do them. I can watch videos while doing them, listen to music, or I can simply sit in silence and focus on the yarn and the movements of my hands. It's peaceful to be alone with myself, the colored yarn, the clicking of the knitting needles or the sweeping motion of my hand with the crochet hook. Most importantly, they're my favorite hobby because they are physical objects that I can give to others. The joy on someone's face when they receive a scarf or a hat that I've made for them is just as rewarding as creating the object.

I'm going to make my mark on the world in the equine community. In the western discipline, there tends to be a stigma around wearing a helmet. Western riders will usually wear a cowboy hat when riding, which offers little protection against getting injured if falling or getting thrown off the horse. I want to leave a positive impact on the community and promote wearing a helmet both in training and at competitions to protect our heads from injury. There are already a few barrel racers that promote helmet-wearing, but I think that the more people that promote protecting heads with helmets, the less stigma there will be for it. Horses are heavy and they are dangerous creatures. They are big and can severely injure us if we don't take precautions to protect ourselves. There are several occasions where someone falls off their horse running the barrel pattern or the horse trips and rolls over the rider, a horse gets spooked and tries to bolt, or a young horse ends up throwing their rider out of the saddle. I want to make it a more common practice for western riders to wear helmets. I'm going to do so by wearing a helmet of my own when at a competition, race, or training young horses and promoting wearing helmets on social media as well as other places. I also plan to do so by talking to people and educating others on the dangers of not wearing a helmet, especially to the youth.

Hobbies are typically inspired by an interest. For me, a hobby is something that I can do when I am stressed, anxious, upset, mad, or burnt out. My favorite hobbies are knitting and crocheting. While I do have other hobbies, those two are my absolute favorite. They can be done anywhere you can take a ball of yarn and a crochet hook or knitting needles. The creative freedom that they give to me to create whatever comes to mind is incredibly rewarding. Knitting and crocheting are my favorite hobbies because I can get a physical representation of what I spent my time doing and a physical object that I can continue using. Knitting and crocheting are two things that are also relaxing for me to take part in. There are several different ways that I can do them. I can watch videos while doing them, listen to music, or I can simply sit in silence and focus on the yarn and the movements of my hands. It's a peaceful thing, being alone with just myself, the colored yarn, and the clicking of the knitting needles or the sweeping motion of my hand with the crochet hook. Most importantly, they're my favorite hobby because they are physical objects that I can give to others. The joy on someone's face when they receive a scarf or a hat that I've made for them is just as rewarding as creating the object.

Creativity is incredibly important to me, and it is something that I incorporate into my life every day that I can. While I apply creativity in my life in several different ways, a couple of the most important ways that I apply creativity in my life is through how I can apply it artistically through my painting and participating in my high school band. Through painting, I am able to not only alleviate stress but also show my creativity in a fun matter that others can view and appreciate. Painting helps me creatively express my feeling and it also gives me a physical product that I can look back on. With our high school band, playing my tenor saxophone gives me the ability to both process my emotions and convey the emotions from the music to an appreciative audience. Music is one of my favorite ways to be creative. There is so much music available to play and there is so much music that I can write. Creativity is so important to have, and it's something that I think can set me aside from other people. While I apply creativity in my life in several different ways, these two things are two of the most important to me.

A bucket list is something that everyone has, whether they write it out physically or not. We all have things that we want to do and places we want to see. I think it's important to have a bucket list. Here are the top 3 things that I've achieved so far in the 18 years of my life! One of the top things that I've achieved so far is going to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and visiting Mackinac Island. I went one summer with my family on a family camping vacation and it was easily one of the best experiences I'm had thus far in my life. I was able to learn a lot about Michigan's history and experience so many new things. My second favorite thing that I've been able to cross off my bucket list is adopting a puppy. I adopted my puppy Apollo in mid-June 2021, and he was easily one of the best things that have ever happened to me. He's so much fun around, but I've also learned so much from him and he's built up my confidence more than I ever would've imagined. My third favorite accomplishment not particularly third seeing as it's tied with my second favorite thing. Regardless, my third bucket list achievement is getting accepted to the University of Findlay for Equine studies, especially accepted as an Honors Student! Three things that are still on my bucket list are to own a mustang. These wild horses are such an inspiration to me, and my dream is to be able to train these beautiful animals. My next one is to finish this year graduating 3rd in my class. Finally, when I graduate from UF, I want to get a job with horses that I've wanted to do all of my life.

Studying is one of the most crucial parts of achieving academic success, and with so many study strategies, it can be difficult to find one that works for you! After a long search in middle school for my best study strategies, I found a few that worked for me. One of my favorite study strategies is to take periodic breaks throughout my study sessions. I've found that studying for hours on end doesn't necessarily help, but it can also leave one stressed and overwhelmed. I find that it benefits me the most when I study for 45 minutes and take a 10-minute break before continuing on again. Studying can also be the most tedious, miserable thing that we have to do as students. To put off my misery of studying for the test that I have tomorrow, I'll usually get a healthy snack to eat while I'm studying and fill my water jug to drink from. It's important to be to have food and water available to me. With both of those, it can help me focus better on the task at hand. Studying is so important when working towards achieving academic success, and I'm learned that especially with the college classes that I've taken for my last two years of high school. There are so many "study hacks" out on the internet that it can be difficult to find one that truly works for each individual person. I've found for myself, that my top few things are taking breaks, having a healthy snack while I study, and having plenty of water to drink.

"A person can find joy in anything if they look hard enough" This is something that I repeat in my head as often as I can. Joy is everywhere, happiness is everywhere. While it is everywhere, it can often be difficult to define. I think joy is when you feel so happy that you don't remember what sad is. So happy that you can't help but have a smile on your face that reaches your eyes. To me, joy is that last sip of hot chocolate I take while I watch my puppy play in the freshly laid snow. Getting an A on that test that I studied for. Joy is the grin on my mom's face as we drive down the dusty dirt road and smell the mint field. I find joy wherever I can, because I know there have been times where I couldn't find joy in anything. Now, I actively seek out joy. When I go out with my friends, there's so much joy in that. The heartwarming laughter and contagious smiles are two things that give joy to not only me but my friends as well. In search of joy, I spend time with my puppy. The way his ears flop about as he runs with me and the way his goofy tongue will hang out of the side of his mouth while he waits for his belly rubs always brings an undeniable smile to my face. I do believe that there is joy in everything. Every day that we go out into the world, and even every day we stay home, there is always a joy to be found. We have to look for it; I do that every chance I get.

Skill: the ability to do something well, to be able to perform a task with a certain sense of expertise and confidence. To me, skill doesn't have to be a physical ability or a physical task that you are able to do. A skill can also be a mentality, a mental ability, a trait that you have or have worked on to become a better, stronger person. My best skill is my ability to bounce back and be resilient. When things get stressful, I've learned to not shut down, but to rather deal with it head-on. While other people may shut down about different mishaps or challenges, I'm able to work my way through them. I can be proactive about my challenges and my stressors. If I don't allow the stressors to shut me down, I can be more productive, and that, in turn, helps build my confidence as well. Improvement with mental skills can often be challenging, depending on what's being worked on. My way of improving my skill to bounce back is to consciously make the decision to not shut down when things get stressful, to not sit there and stay silent about a potential problem that I have. While it can be difficult at times, a skill like this is well worth it and important to have.

Legacy: something that one leaves behind once they're gone, something that can define a person, a stamp on the future, something that is difficult to think about when it comes to your own. While trying to answer this question, I had to think about what legacies have been left by my past family members. I know my Great Grandma’s resilient legacy lives on through her children, her grandchildren, and even down to her great-grandchildren. When I think about it, I want my legacy to be that I cared about my passions. I want to be remembered as someone that chased their dreams and turned them into a reality. I want to be a respectable person with a legacy that can live on through my children, friends, and anyone that knew me. I want this to be my legacy because not letting your passions and dreams remain to be just dreams is important to me. I want that to be my legacy because I want people to be as inspired by my legacy just as much as my Great Grandma’s resilient legacy inspires me. It can be scary to chase dreams and follow passions that one has, it may seem unattainable, but I want my legacy to show people that pursuing their passions is an attainable goal and their dreams can, in fact, become a reality. I’ve worked towards making my passions and dreams become reality, and I want to inspire others to do the same.

Talent, skill, perseverance, hope. These are some of the many things that we as readers can gather from the book The Maze Runner by James Dashner. A group of individuals left with nothing and build up their own community and system to survive, just to have it ripped away from them and need to persevere past the hardships thrown to them. The strength that it takes for the group to persevere and push forward in the hopes of getting a better life once they escape. It's inspiring to me because it shows that if you have a strong group of friends, a strong support system, you can accomplish anything. With a strong support system and hope, you can get past even the hardest of situations. This book shows how important teamwork is and how important it is to be able to work together with others, especially in stressful situations. This book shows the importance of not giving up when times get hard. If the group had given up searching the maze for an exit when they couldn't find it right away, they likely never would've known enough about the maze to escape them the time came. It proves that by not giving up on certain things that seem impossible, you can accomplish other, more difficult things in the future. I find The Maze Runner by James Dashner to be one of the most inspiring books that I've read. This is because of the fact that it shows how important it is to have a strong support system, be able to persevere, the importance of hope. With these things, it shows that you can accomplish anything and live the best life you can.

"Sometimes it is a good thing to be afraid and uncomfortable". This is a concept that took me a fair amount of time to learn and understand, but once I did, it changed my life. For me, it made being afraid and uncomfortable less scary and uncomfortable. This sentence shows that being afraid and uncomfortable is not always a bad thing, it can benefit us. We have the most growth outside of our comfort zone, but being outside of our comfort zone is a scary thing to deal with. The problem with being in our comfort zone, is we don't always reach all of our opportunities to learn and grow. I would share this sentence because it is an important concept to grasp. Sometimes, we sit and wonder why we aren't going anywhere or accomplishing anything, but it's because we are nice and cozy in our comfort zone and we won't branch out to expand that zone. If we're afraid to be afraid and uncomfortable, we can't accomplish much.

Happiness is something that people are always trying to chase. Everyone wants to be happy, and everyone deserves to be happy. While happiness can be difficult to find, we can gather happiness from just about anything if we search for it. This is why I find questions like this are difficult to answer, there are so many things that make me happy that I don't know how to write about them! Things that make me happy are things such as getting an A in my classes, getting praise for an essay that I wrote for my English class, or playing that one section of music right in band class when I've gotten it wrong so many times. While these academic achievements bring me happiness, there are other, more important things that bring me great amounts of joy and happiness. Things like when I get to spend time with my mom, dad, and brother laughing and getting the opportunity to experience new things with them. We go camping together with the dogs so often, and I have so many happy memories from that. Horses bring me immense amounts of happiness as well, which is why I am going to the University of Findlay for Equestrian Studies. I love horses, and I always have. It makes me incredibly happy that I am able to major in Equestrian Studies at UF. The braveness that I can get from being around horses and the wings that they give me to soar are irreplaceable. There are so many things that make me happy that I could make a list a mile long. Sometimes it's difficult to find joy and happiness in things, but I truly believe that happiness can be found through anything.

My name is Allison and I'm a senior at Potterville High School. I play the tenor saxophone in our concert and marching band, and when we have jazz and pep band opportunities I am also part of that. I am 18 years old and I plan to attend the Univerisity of Findlay for 4 years for Equestrian Studies - Western Riding/Training Emphasis. My goal is to graduate from UF and continue on to ride and train performance horses and train horses to be used in therapeutic riding programs to help give a positive impact on people with special needs and disabilities. Awareness about drunk driving has always been important to me because I've seen what it can do to people. It has affected uncles, cousins, and classmates. Drunk driving can kill people, but it can also permanently change people's lives in ways that they didn't want to be changed. One of my uncles would drink drunk or with alcohol in the car. He ended up losing his driver's license and has never gotten it back. Now, he relies on other people for transportation. One of my cousins would do the same thing, and they ended up needing to do a breathalyzer test every time they got in the car to ensure that they weren't about to drive drunk. The most devastating experience that I know of included a few classmates of mine and the dad of someone one of my other uncles work with. Fortunately, to my knowledge, nobody died from the accident, but it left the man in the other car in critical condition in the hospital, left one of my classmates in severe trouble, and paralyzed one of my other classmates from the waist down. Drunk driving and the consequences that come from it are easily avoidable, especially with services such as Uber. I'm fortunate enough to not have been directly affected by drunk driving, but I know plenty of people that have been severely affected by it. Due to all of these reasons, I've pledged to never drive drunk and to never underage drink.

I've had the same goal since I was three years old. Hello! My name is Allison and I'm a senior at Potterville High School! Both of my parents now work at Potterville public schools, which I think is pretty cool! I'm 18 years old and I love to read, write, and spend time with horses. I've always wanted to work with horses ever since I was just a little girl, but they are expensive! My family never had enough money to own horses, so I'm hoping that my experience at UF will help jumpstart my dreams of working with horses. While horses are expensive, so is University and the things that I need to attend. On top of expenses like tuition, I also have a long list of horse tack that I need in order to be successful in the University that I am going to go to. My goals are to go to The University of Findlay for Equestrian Studies - Western riding/training emphasis to learn more about riding and training horses. After University, I want to train performance horses and horses that can be used in therapeutic riding programs. Winning this scholarship will help me tremendously. Out-of-state tuition is expensive and seems impossible to pay for, but all of the tack that I need for my equestrian studies classes are also increasingly expensive, even when buying used tack. This scholarship can help ease the costs that I will be given and help bring me closer to achieving my goals and dreams!

Mental health is something that is becoming talked about more, and it is important to talk about. While there is not one single solution to completely solve the struggles that come along with mental health, there are things that we can do to help. Something important when taking care of mental health is being able to take a day off from work or school when you're feeling burnt out or stressed. Taking a day off can help give individuals an opportunity to do some self-care and destress to help their mental health. However, I know a lot of people that feel that they cannot take days off from work or school to help their mental health, so they try to just push through it. Something that could help more people that struggle with mental health is giving workers and students mental health days. While we have sick days, it would be beneficial to give individuals mental health days as well. Some people don't want to take sick days for their mental health, so if they are given days for mental health reasons, they may feel more comfortable taking a day off to focus on themselves.

"If you can't listen to your friends you're not a very good friend," one of my friends once said to me while ranting about someone else. Ever since then, that sentence has stuck with me. If you can't listen, why would people talk to you? To me, listening means that you pay attention, or that you care about what other people have to say. When you listen to someone, they seem to gain a fair amount of respect for you. Adding to that, when you listen to other people, other people tend to begin to listen to you. To actively listen, you need to pay attention to others and pay attention to what's happening around you. Paying attention is important to me when trying to actively listen. If you're not paying attention, you're not really listening. When I actively listen to the people around me, I pay attention to how they act around me and the way they talk to me. This way, I know if something is wrong or they need something. Listening is incredibly important, especially when listening to friends.

I have several goals for the future, and a lot of them are goals that I've been working towards for most of my life. One of which being to graduate with exceptional grades and to bring that drive to university with me. As of right now, I'm set to graduate 3rd in my class with a GPA of 3.96 and I have plans to do put in the work to do the same in university. My goals for my career are to be the best that I can be and be a respectable individual in the equine industry. I'm going to university for Equestrian studies, and I want to do the best that I can do with that. I want to be able to be independent in my career and repay the people that helped me get to where I am. As for my personal goals, I want to be the best version of myself. I want to love myself as much as I love others and take care of everything that I can. I have a goal to be a friend to everyone that needs one. I want to be able to take care of both myself and others as much as I can.

The determination to succeed and accomplish things that I was told I cannot do is something that motivates me on a daily basis. I want to succeed in my dreams, and people have told me that I will never be able to do that. I work as hard as I can every day to be able to accomplish my dreams and do what makes me happy. This is something that my mom taught me when I was younger. If someone tells you that you can't do something that you want to do because of the situation you're in or the situations you grew up with, you need to work as hard as you can to prove that you can do it. It is possible. Every day that I am motivated to get out of bed and work as hard as I can is a day closer to succeeding and accomplishing my dreams. However, while other people tell me that I can't do it, I am my own motivator. I have the determination and the discipline to motivate myself and do what I need to do and do what needs to be done. I always want to be the best version of myself that I can be, and I know that being motivated and determined without any need or cause is one of my top priorities.

I hope to leave a positive impact on the equine community. With the western discipline, there is a bit of a stigma around wearing a helmet. Western riders will usually wear a cowboy hat when riding, which offers little protection against getting injured if falling or getting thrown off the horse. I want to leave a positive impact on the community and promote wearing a helmet both in training and at competitions to protect our heads from injury. There are already some barrel racers that promote helmet wearing, but I think that the more people that promote protecting heads with helmets the less stigma there will be for it. Horses are dangerous creatures. They are big and they can hurt us if we don't take precautions to protect ourselves. There are several occasions where someone falls off their horse running the barrel pattern or the horse trips and rolls over the rider. I want to make it a more common practice for western riders to wear helmets. I'm going to do so by wearing a helmet of my own when at a competition, race, or training young horses and promoting wearing helmets on social media as well as other places. I also plan to do so by talking to people and educating others on the dangers of not wearing a helmet, especially to the youth.

Losing a family member is always an incredibly difficult thing to heal from, but I think losing a family member during a pandemic while doing online schooling and being your own motivator is something that has been the hardest situation for me to cope with. On the other side of it now, I'm grateful for the way that I was able to be resilient and continue to strive to be the best version of myself. I lost my Grandma Rosie in September of 2020. After losing her, it was difficult to feel like getting out of bed to do my schoolwork on the computer was worth it. Since it was a pandemic, my family wasn't able to get together to mourn her loss together. We were all completely on our own. While it was difficult, one of the most important things that I've been taught was to be resilient. To be tough. To bounce back. So that's what I did, I was tough. I gathered the strength and motivation to get up to do my schoolwork and continue on, attempting to make sure to do things that would make Grandma Rosie proud of me. On the other side of it now, I'm still healing from it, but I'm grateful for the way that I was able to cope with such a different and difficult situation for me. I knew that giving up and not doing anything was not an option, so I was resilient, and I persevered.

To be independent is something that everyone wants to be, but what does it truly mean? To me, to be independent means to be able to not only do things on your own and support yourself without the need of someone else's assistance but to also be able to do things for other people and help others. Being independent in my eyes means to be able to live on your own if you must, but not have the need to do so. Being independent is something that I strive for every day. To be independent I think is a version of confidence with both one's self and surroundings. Being independent impacts me in a way in which I am able to do things on my own, but also feel confident and comfortable enough to do things with and for other people. While I am good on my own, I am also not afraid to ask for help should I need it, and I am also not afraid to help others when I can.

This is a thought that I've wondered about for years. What does my dream life look like? Well, My dream life would include owning a ranch and training horses. I always imagine that there are beautiful maple trees and hills. There are several outdoor arenas and round pens, and two big indoor arenas along with the nicest barn that I could build. Most importantly, however, My dream life looks like I am happy. It doesn't matter what the physical being of my life looks like to me, my dream for my life is to be happy and to do the things that I am passionate about doing. My dream life would be that I am happily training horses. My dream life includes people that I enjoy being around and people that enjoy being around me. My passion is horses, that's why I want to go to university for equestrian studies. My dream life is graduating from university and putting my degree to use to do what I love. I know that after university, my dream life can become a reality.

Simple pleasures are important to embrace, and my favorite simple pleasure is taking a walk with my dogs. Walking gives me an opportunity to both clear my own mind and bond with my dogs. After a long day, it's incredibly relaxing to just take a walk down the road, listening to music or listening to the wind blow the leaves in the trees and the birds singing their songs. It makes me happy to spend time with my dogs outside. It's like self care for me in a sense. Getting off my phone and away from schoolwork for a little while to take a breathe of fresh air; it's refreshing. Another simple pleasure in my life is sitting outside by a tree in our property in a woods. The calmness of nature around me as I just sit there and breathe. The birds chirping and the sun shining through the treetops. Just to simply exist is such a beautiful thing, and that is something that I enjoy very much.

I know it may sound strange, but the song that inspires me the most is Sleigh Ride. Not just any Sleigh Ride, but the song that my high school band plays every year for our Christmas concert. Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson is the song that inspires me the most because it is the epitome of growth for our high school band. When we start playing it as freshmen, it can be intimidating. Cut time is something that we hadn't done extensively, the tempo is faster than anything we did previously, and there are notes that most freshmen had never seen before. It's overwhelming, it's scary, and the seniors act like it's easy! Sophomore year, Sleigh Ride is a little more manageable. We understand the basics and we are able to see ourselves improve in areas we were never able to play well during our freshmen year. While it's still one of the harder songs, we dislike playing it a little bit less. Junior year, Sleigh Ride is almost a walk in the park. We understand the rhythms and the notes and we can play it well. We're actually starting to like the song? Senior year. I look back at freshmen year and I'm genuinely impressed with the growth that we seniors have made throughout our years of playing the song. We can hold the song up on our own now, and we understand it well enough to help others learn the song and pass down tips or tricks on how to play it easier. Sleigh Ride inspires me so much. It gave me an opportunity to learn and grow, without even realizing it. I was able to truly see how far I've come as a musician during my four years in high school. It inspires me to continue growing.

I have demonstrated leadership the most in my school. More specifically, I demonstrate leadership in our high school band. What I love the most about my leadership role in the band is the fact that I do not necessarily need to be loud to show leadership. My band director once said to me that my leadership has grown throughout my years in the band, and he mentioned that I do not need to be loud or commanding to show leadership. I am able to demonstrate my leadership through doing the right thing, encouraging others, and showing that I am doing my best and working to improve. To me, leadership means that someone has the ability to be a good influence by doing what is right and encouraging others to do so as well. Leadership isn't always about who has the ability to give the loudest command and force people to listen to them, leadership is someone who will do things with the people that they are in a leadership position for and give corrections when a correction needs to happen. People in leadership positions should earn the respect that they are given. Being a leader is important to me because it allows me to get to know the other people in my band better and I am able to form a connection with them. By being a leader, I am able to both do amazing things and help others do incredible things.

Every morning when I wake up I stay true to myself by reminding myself of who I am. As I sit in front of my vanity mirror brushing through my hair, I remind myself of who I am, what I stand for, and the value that I have. It's one of my favorite parts about waking up because it makes me feel happy and I am able to realize that just because other people are doing one thing, doesn't mean I have to as well. Throughout school, I also consider the scenarios around me. One of which is while other people leave class early to go get lunch, I stick around and finish taking notes on the lecture. I remind myself that I do not have to follow the crowd. I hold my education to a high value, and I don't need to ignore what my values are in order to look "cool" to my classmates. Blending into the crowd or doing what others are doing doesn't make you cool, to me, staying true to yourself and sticking to your values is cool. So when I sit in from of the mirror to brush my hair, I remind myself that I am strong, I am resilient, I am dedicated and determined, I am my own advocate, and I am capable of making mature decisions for myself.

I remember from a young age that my father has told me "Things are generally cheaper to do yourself than to buy from the store or hire a service" and that has stuck with me for a very long time. He'd told me this while I was helping his bleed the breaks on our van. Dad opened the hood and pointed at a tube. "It would have cost $87 for me to take this somewhere to fix the leak," He looked at me. "It cost me $8 to fix it myself." Ever since then, I've been set on fixing things myself rather than paying someone else to do it, and he was right. By learning to do and fix things myself, I am able to spend less than I would if I were to pay someone else to do it during their own time. Not only do I learn a valuable skill that I can use for the rest of my life, but I also save money and am given the potential to even make money by doing that service for others and asking a small fee for the time that I put into it. This is why this is the most helpful piece of financial advice I've ever received, as well as the piece of advice that I use the most.