Mental health has been a struggle in my life for as long as I can remember. In the summer of 2021, I had a major dip in mental health. I distracted myself through work, doing 40 hour weeks and just laying in my bed any time I wasn't there. I became dependent on nicotine to calm my nerves through every day. I never did my laundry, didn't do anything for self care, and isolated myself from my friends and family, thinking they were better off without me anyway. I ignored all of the summer work I had to do for my senior year of high school. I was a mess. And soon, everything became too much for me to handle. I tried to take my life. That was August 31st, 2021. I was hospitalized for 24 hours, and then sent to a mental behavioral facility in Horsham, PA. There, I remained in therapy classes and tried out what medicines work best for me. I stayed there for eight days and continued working on my medication outside of the facility. Since then, I have been working on straightening out what medications work best for me and how I can keep my life as one worth living. Some days are harder than others, but in the long run, I have come a long way. Overcoming my mental health was one of the hardest challenges of my life. Recently, I lost a loved one to cancer, and I felt myself falling back into that dark place. But I fought it. I fought to keep myself happy, and keeping her in my memory won't bring me down. Instead, I can smile knowing that we had a lot of good times and she is no longer in pain. I won't let myself fall back into that dark place, no matter how hard I have to fight. I've finally found a combination of medications that keep me from falling back down without making me completely unfeeling. There are some that made me, as I would describe, a zombie. I just didn't want to move, I was exhausted all the time, and I was indifferent towards the world around me. I didn't care how others saw me, but I also didn't care how I saw myself. Self-love has become incredibly important in my mental health journey, and I have come a long way. I'm happy. The challenge of mental health is hard, but doable. And I did it.

Personally, I think my best skill is poetry. This is something I've used as an outlet for built up emotions for a long time, and I improve it everyday. Poetry is one of my passions, giving me an outlet for emotions as well as creativity. One way I improve my creativity is practice. This is an important way to improve any skill, no matter how far you've advanced in it. It allows you to see your mistake, how you make them, where your mind is at when you make them, and how to fix it. Practice allows me too see how my mind wanders when I am writing, causing me to go off topic or change the idea I had been going for. Sometimes, I am able to catch this and stop it before it can affect my writing too much. Another way I improve my writing skills is by reading works from other people. This could be a professional, a teacher, a friend, or someone who has just posted their work online. I use these to see what I can do better in my own work, and I can identify my strengths and weaknesses so I know what to work on the most. It also opens my eyes to different strategies, formats, patterns, and ideas to use in my writing that I hadn't used before. Writing poetry is very important to me. I have journals filled with it, school notebooks that contain random stanzas that I thought of in the middle of class, sticky notes with phrases I could use in writings later, etc. Improving my work is important to me, and I hope to be good enough for others to be interested in my work later.

I have always been very passionate about education and community service. Although I do not plan on going into college for education, I do plan on doing study abroad programs in other countries and volunteering to better their schools or even build ones in areas where they are needed. Access to education is very important in childhood, when people are more impressionable and learn quicker. Spreading education to places where they don't necessarily have the materials to create their own of fighting for groups of people in areas where they aren't allowed to earn an education to be able to have that right is so important in our world. A lot of countries don't allow women to have an education. They are made to be housewives and do whatever men tell them to, making sure they aren't able to outsmart men in any way. This needs to stop. Sexism in education is something that needs to be eliminated, as every person deserves to be able to obtain the same education. Protesting this and spreading the fight will allows us to improve education for future generations. Another big effect on the spread of education is poverty. In poor communities and countries, there isn't a lot of access to education. There are volunteers who help build and teach in the schools they created, but it continues to be an issue around the world. If we can increase the number of people engaged in this issue, we can increase donations and volunteers around the world to help out in these communities. Education is one of the most important aspects in life. It allows us to grow physically and mentally, and can help us achieve more in the future. In order to spread education further, we need to spread awareness of the issues. In order to better education for future generations, we need to start working on it now. There is no waiting for a better time, there is never a better time than now. The longer people wait to become involved, the longer the issue carries on and the work needed to be done doesn't move. I feel very strongly about this, and plan to do my part in these issues. Travelling and teaching are two things I will do to help eliminate these things, and I hope others will too.

I plan on pursuing a higher education to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's in business administration. As I pursue these degrees, I will be participating in other extracurriculars throughout my time in college, as well as community service inside and outside of school. Once I have earned my degrees and graduate, I hope to become a CPA or forensic accountant, and help small businesses in my community with their finances in order to help them grow. This is something I have thought about for a very long time, and supporting the small business that I love so much will bring me a sense of fulfillment in my career. In order to avoid college debt, I have been applying to as many scholarships as possible while also working a part-time job after school and on the weekends. This allows me to save up money, and try to earn a little bit of funding from these scholarships to get me through my academic career. I have received scholarships from the school I will be attending, Susquehanna University, but any little amount I can get outside of that will help. It can take away from the loans I will have to pay off later in life, and make me feel more secure in my education and career. College tuition is something I have been worried about since I started thinking about college. My family doesn't have the money to spend on college, so it's something I am going to have to go through completely on my own. I am a twin, so sending two kids off to college at the same time makes it even harder for them to help me pay for college, and I've always known I was going to have to figure it out on my own. Although it is a little stressful to think about, it's also exciting to know that I will finally be at least a little more independent. I won't be living at home anymore, I won't be feeding off of my family financially, I won't be under anyone's rules but my own on how to live my life. And that includes financially. I also plan to do things on campus in order to avoid college debt. Working on-campus has always been something I wanted to do, I love working and it helps me avoid debt. Not only does this help me save money, it also gives me more experience to get better jobs in the future, in turn allowing me to make more money to pay off loans. I've also taken a few college courses during my high school career to take off a few classes from my college education. Since I got to take these classes for free, it saves me money. I've always known I wanted to go to college. Paying for it is the only issue that could keep me from completing my degree. I have many plans to keep this from happening, and applying for this scholarship is one of them.

One thing I am passionate about is writing poetry. This has brought me a great amount of self-peace, especially through my struggle with mental health. There are many reasons I love writing poetry, including the release of emotions built up inside, a medium for creativity since I am terrible at drawing, and my love for music. All of these things have made me very passionate about my poetry. Mental health has been something I've struggled with for a very long time. When one of my best friends, Alex, introduced me to using poetry as a way to cope with the emotions you need to let out, in ignited something in me. This became a pass time for me, writing every time I felt overwhelmed and forgetting about how much time was passing by. It felt very freeing. I also have always hated that fact that I can't draw. I know there are some things that not everybody can do, but for some reason it really irritated me that I couldn't draw. Writing poetry gave me a way to forget that, seeing that I don't have to draw in order to be creative. I just had to make something with my mind, whether it be a short story, a song, or a poem. Speaking of songs, one of my goals in life is to become a lyricist. I have an okay singing voice, but I'd rather create the words and have someone else sing them. I don't need to fame and fortune performers receive, but I want to be able to share my writings with other through song. Poetry is very important to me, and I want to share this with other people to spread the love of poetry. It's corny, but I love it.

One thing I can say confidently that not many others can is that I have made a positive impact in my community. Although my impact has not been spread around the world, at least I know I have done so in my small, Bristol community. I've been very involved in community service in my town for the past five years. It's been a big part of my life, and a huge eye-opener to the struggles in my community. It's hard to see how much poverty and homelessness impacts my community, and how little people actually talk about it. I know some people say that it's a "tough topic", but it's a topic that needs to be dealt with no matter how difficult. Personally, I have been helping these issues. I volunteer at my local food pantry, I bring hot meals to people in tent communities who don't have access to them, I clean up around the town to reduce the amount of pollution, and I volunteer as a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation to encourage others to make positive impacts in their communities. It's important to me to help others help themselves, whether it's a mental impact or a push towards better living situations. And I plan on continuing this throughout the rest of my life, especially during study abroad programs. Seeing the positive impact I've made on those around me makes me feel good about myself. It feels selfish to say I help others in order to help myself feel good, but no matter what your motivation to help others is, you are still making positive impacts. I plan on continuing community service throughout the rest of my life and continue doing what I do best- helping people.

One story from my childhood that was a turn around for me was watching my twin sister get bullied. At the time, I had been bullying other kids as a way to get my anger out. I was angry that I couldn't help my sister with her own bully, and that no one else was doing anything about it either. So I took it out on other kids. Seeing how the bullying affected my sister made it really hard for me. I would get angry at myself for what I was doing, seeing how it could affect those kids the same way, and it would just make the bullying worse. The build up of anger would just get bigger and bigger over time and it became like an addiction for me to let it out. One day, my sister's bully jumper her in the bathroom. She came home with a scratch across her face, through her eye, and bruises all over her body. This was an absolute breaking point for me. I was so angry I ran to her bully's house and gave her the same treatment she gave my sister. And that was when I realized it wasn't making me feel any better. I was taking out my anger on the person who had been supplying it so much and it didn't help at all. It was just making it worse. This became the turning point in my life, and it was when I stopped hurting those around me. I began trying to help people as often as a could, which has brought me to five years of community service and still going. This moment made me who I am today, and though I am not proud of who I was, I am proud of who I am.

Giving is important to me because it shows that you care. And I don't necessarily mean just gift giving, I also mean giving back to your community, to your mentors (teachers, parents, coworkers, bosses), and to yourself. A lot of people don't think of the last one as "giving back", but it is one of the most necessary forms of giving back. I try to give back as much as possible. Community service is one of my biggest forms of giving back. I have been a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation for five years, and this is where my eyes were opened to the world of community service. It has brought me great happiness to give others the necessities they don't have access to. Watching my community grow, though we are still in poverty and have a lot of homelessness, it feels good to see some of it being helped. I spoke very highly of giving to yourself before. A lot of people don't really think of this as giving back, but I can explain why I think it is. When you over exert yourself putting other people's needs before your own, it can become damaging. Giving yourself that time to heal, time to rest, things to refuel your happiness, and self-care in general is an amazing way to give to yourself. And in turn, your allowing yourself recovery time between helping others, giving yourself more energy to help others when you do. It can be counted as giving back to yourself and your community. Giving back to yourself is one of the most important things you can do.

One experience that has shaped who I am today is watching my twin sister get bullied. At the time, I had been bullying other kids as a way to get my anger out. I was angry that I couldn't help my sister with her own bully, and that no one else was doing anything about it either. So I took it out on other kids. Seeing how the bullying affected my sister made it really hard for me. I would get angry at myself for what I was doing, seeing how it could affect those kids the same way, and it would just make the bullying worse. The build up of anger would just get bigger and bigger over time and it became like an addiction for me to let it out. One day, my sister's bully jumper her in the bathroom. She came home with a scratch across her face, through her eye, and bruises all over her body. This was an absolute breaking point for me. I was so angry I ran to her bully's house and gave her the same treatment she gave my sister. And that was when I realized it wasn't making me feel any better. I was taking out my anger on the person who had been supplying it so much and it didn't help at all. It was just making it worse. This became the turning point in my life, and it was when I stopped hurting those around me. I began trying to help people as often as a could, which has brought me to five years of community service and still going. This moment made me who I am today, and though I am not proud of who I was, I am proud of who I am.

My favorite way to help others is through community service. I have been part of a community service organization, Bristol Borough Teen Foundation, for five years now. This program allows me to find more opportunities to help others in my area. I try to volunteer as often as possible between school and work. I will even go out on my own and bring trash bags around town to clean up the pollution and litter that people leave everywhere. In our town, there are a few different homeless communities in the woods and by the Delaware River. My family has brought many hot meals and supplies to these communities, which really showed me how little it can take to make someone's day. These people have been through so much, and if I can help them to feel even a little bit better, I will. I also volunteer at my local food pantry sometimes. The first time I did, we organized the food on the shelves to make specific things easier to find and make it look neater for those coming in. We also set up some care packages for those who don't have anything, that way they can have a little bit of everything to keep them going for a little while. Helping people is something I love to do. Making others smile, making sure they have what they need when they don't necessarily have access to it otherwise- it feels good. My favorite way to help people is in any way that I can, no matter how big or small.

Mental illness has been a huge part of my life. Between my grandfather taking too many pain meds and going manic, my maternal grandmother being bipolar, my paternal grandmother having narcissistic personality disorder, my father inheriting that same disorder, and my sister and I both having our own handfuls of mental disorders, it had been a really big part of my life. I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and minor psychosis. These have defined my entire life. I believe everyone should have access to free healthcare, even when it comes to therapy and psychiatric help. These are things we cannot control, and they extremely important to treat before things can get too bad. Mental health issues run in my family, and a lot of us haven't had access to the help we need. I am very fortunate to have the therapy and medicine I do now, but that wasn't always the case. My grandfather is a prime example of this. Unfortunately, in 2009, his mental illness had taken the best of his as my grandmother filed for divorce. He ended up leaving my house, leaving his dog here, and going back to his house to shoot her and afterwards, himself. If he had had access to therapy and more controlled medicine, they could both still be here today. I truly believe he was a good person whose mental illness was simply past the point of treatment at this time. Relationships have always been hard for me. My relationships with my parents is full of arguments, emotional abuse, manipulation, and love-bombing. Although I have learned how to live in this hostile environment after living in it for so long, it's still hard. Going to college will finally be my escape, and for that I am so grateful. My friendships usually have issues in communication, and I only really have a couple close friends. It's hard to keep the motivation to talk to people all the time, so I am glad to have friends who understand that I won't always be super talkative. I will still always be there when they need me, and they're always there when I need them. I do have a few acquaintances, but they're not nearly as close as my two best friends and twin sister. We have a very tight circle, and that is completely okay with me. Some people can't handle the hardships that come with being close with a mentally ill person, and that's fine with me. I have only ever been in one romantic relationship. It was not a good one; I was 16 and he was 23. I am a very easily manipulated person, and he groomed me at my place of work. He no longer works there, but he tries to contact me randomly and it brings back terrible memories. Although I would love to be able to explain further, it hurts too much to think about so I will not. I am sorry. I have struggled with an eating disorder for years. When I didn't feel good about myself, I would rely on either starving myself or binge eating to distract me. Watching my calorie count, watching how often I exercise, and watching my weight became an unhealthy obsession. It lead me to dark places, full of large weight fluctuations, nearly passing out on multiple occasions, and exhaustion while running myself into the ground. If I wasn't at school or work, you could most likely find me running on the track or speed-walking around town to increase my exercise for the day. I became unfathomably skinny, but body dysmorphia lead me to believe that it was still too much. One day, I ended up in the hospital after trying to take my own life, where I got sent to a behavioral health center. I spent almost two weeks there, being forced to eat three meals a day, trying different medications to see if they lifted my suicidal or anxious thoughts at all, and keeping up with self-care routines that I had barely paid attention to before. After my stay, I was on a meal plan that slowly increased through every day in order to build up my appetite. This was a brutal process, making me sick to my stomach every time I looked at the food given to me. I lived in a constant fear of what my next meal was, and if it was going to hurt me more than help me. Although it was such a painful process, I will always be glad it was something I went through. Without that, I might not be here today. The stigma surrounding mental disorders is despicable. People who say that those with mental disorders are just looking for attention, body-shaming those around them without knowing why people look the way they do, saying self-harm is just another way to get attention, saying things like "it's all in your head, just be happy"; these are all very harmful things. Sometimes these comments sit really heavily in someone's brain, and it only makes them worse. Whether the comments are feeding into someone's eating disorder or feeding their depression or other mental illnesses, they are immoral and wrong. People should be confident in their bodies no matter what size, shape, or number are put on them. People shouldn't have to suffer mental illnesses that are just being fed by people around them. This is something I feel very passionate, as I have gone through many similar experiences. This stigma needs to end.

Mental health has been very apparent in my entire life. Between all of my grandparents having some mental health issues, both of my parents, and my sister and I both having our own handfuls of mental disorders, it had been a really big part of my life. I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and minor psychosis. These have defined my entire life. I believe everyone should have access to free healthcare, even when it comes to therapy and psychiatric help. Mental health issues run in my family, and a lot of us haven't had access to the help we need. I am very fortunate to have the therapy and medicine I do now, but that wasn't always the case. My grandfather is a prime example of this. Unfortunately, in 2009, his mental illness had taken the best of his as my grandmother filed for divorce. He ended up leaving my house and going back to his house to shoot her and afterwards, himself. If he had had access to therapy, they could both still be here today. I truly believe he was a good person whose mental illness was simply past the point of treatment at this time. Relationships have always been hard for me. My relationships with my parents is full of arguments, emotional abuse, manipulation, and love-bombing. Although I have learned how to live in this hostile environment after living in it for so long, it's still hard. Going to college will finally be my escape, and for that I am so grateful. My friendships usually have issues in communication, and I only really have a couple close friends. It's hard to keep the motivation to talk to people all the time, so I am glad to have friends who understand. I will still always be there when they need me, and they're always there when I need them. We have a very tight circle, and that is completely okay with me. Some people can't handle the hardships that come with being close with a mentally ill person, and that's fine with me. I have only ever been in one romantic relationship. It was not a good one; I was 16 and he was 23. I am a very easily manipulated person, and he groomed me at my place of work. He no longer works there, but he tries to contact me randomly and it brings back terrible memories. Although I would love to be able to explain further, it hurts too much to think about so I will not. I am sorry. My career aspirations haven't been extremely influenced by mental health. I've wanted to go into finance since I was in the fourth grade, so I can't really remember what brought me to that decision. Being mentally ill might have made my motivation to succeed stronger, just to show myself that I can do it and my life is worth living. Mental illness has been one of the biggest factors in my life, guiding me to where I am today. But it's also taught me that everyone is deserving of happiness. It can be extremely difficult to bring yourself to that place, but once you are there, it feels very freeing. I have been there before. I wish I could say I'm there now, but things happen. But mental health has influenced my mind to show me that I will be happy again someday. Whether it is today, tomorrow, or five years from now, I will get there. And I will be deserving of that feeling.

Mental health has been very apparent in my entire life. Between my grandfather taking too many pain meds and going manic, my maternal grandmother being bipolar, my paternal grandmother having narcissistic personality disorder, my father inheriting that same disorder, and my sister and I both having our own handfuls of mental disorders, it had been a really big part of my life. I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and minor psychosis. These have defined my entire life. I believe everyone should have access to free healthcare, even when it comes to therapy and psychiatric help. These are things we cannot control, and they extremely important to treat before things can get too bad. Mental health issues run in my family, and a lot of us haven't had access to the help we need. I am very fortunate to have the therapy and medicine I do now, but that wasn't always the case. My grandfather is a prime example of this. Unfortunately, in 2009, his mental illness had taken the best of his as my grandmother filed for divorce. He ended up leaving my house, leaving his dog here, and going back to his house to shoot her and afterwards, himself. If he had had access to therapy and more controlled medicine, they could both still be here today. I truly believe he was a good person whose mental illness was simply past the point of treatment at this time. Another belief of mine that has been influenced by mental illness is religion. A lot of people in my community are catholic or christian. Neither of my parents practice religion, but I've still grown up around it my entire life. Seeing the ways mental illness affects so many people, along with the terrible things that go on in our world today, I do not believe in a God. If there is a God, then they don't deserve to be worshipped anyway. No one who causes this much damage in the world they created deserves to be worshipped in any way. Relationships have always been hard for me. My relationships with my parents is full of arguments, emotional abuse, manipulation, and love-bombing. Although I have learned how to live in this hostile environment after living in it for so long, it's still hard. Going to college will finally be my escape, and for that I am so grateful. My friendships usually have issues in communication, and I only really have a couple close friends. It's hard to keep the motivation to talk to people all the time, so I am glad to have friends who understand that I won't always be super talkative. I will still always be there when they need me, and they're always there when I need them. I do have a few acquaintances, but they're not nearly as close as my two best friends and twin sister. We have a very tight circle, and that is completely okay with me. Some people can't handle the hardships that come with being close with a mentally ill person, and that's fine with me. I have only ever been in one romantic relationship. It was not a good one; I was 16 and he was 23. I am a very easily manipulated person, and he groomed me at my place of work. He no longer works there, but he tries to contact me randomly and it brings back terrible memories. Although I would love to be able to explain further, it hurts too much to think about so I will not. I am sorry. My career aspirations haven't been extremely influenced by mental health. I've wanted to go into finance since I was in the fourth grade, so I can't really remember what brought me to that decision. I assume it was my love of numbers, they've always been my favorite part of school. Being mentally ill might have made my motivation to succeed stronger, just to show myself that I can do it and my life is worth living. But in the end, this is just something I've always wanted to do. Mental illness has been one of the biggest factors in my life, guiding me to where I am today. But it's also taught me that everyone is deserving of happiness. Even if that person doesn't believe so, everyone should know what happiness feels like. It can be extremely difficult to bring yourself to that place, but once you are there, it feels very freeing. I have been there before. I wish I could say I'm there now, but things happen. But mental health has influenced my mind to show me that I will be happy again someday. Whether it is today, tomorrow, or five years from now, I will get there. And I will be deserving of that feeling.

1.) Tbh, I don't deserve this scholarship. Can I get it just for being awesome and cool? 2.) My academic goals are to learn how to party hard. Harder than anyone. Career wise, I have absolutely no idea. Maybe I'll be one of the most wanted criminals in history. 3.) I had to step over a pencil one time. It was so difficult, I've been traumatized to this day. Everytime I see a pencil, I get instant flashbacks to that moment. But we live and we learn.

I have demonstrated leadership in both my school and in my community. Leaderships has always been important to me; bad leadership can lead those around you to feel less confident in what they are doing and then they don't so their work up to their potential. In my school, I've always been one of the top in my class. Although that has faltered a little bit in the past few years due to mental health challenges and things going on at home, there are still people who look up to me in intelligence. I have tutored multiple of my peers, allowing them to feel more confident in their work and themselves, showing them that they have the ability to do what they need to do. It's important to not belittle those who aren't at the same level as you in something because they might not have touched their potential yet. They could be better than you, they just haven't had the access to materials you had to learn it. Even if they don't have the ability to do as great as you in that one subject, they will always have at least one other thing they can do better than you. Being condescending will only hurt them more. In my community, I try to volunteer as often as possible. I have been a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation for five years, where I have encouraged other to join our volunteer events to improve our community. I have chaired certain events, planning them and advertising them to spread the opportunities. Volunteering opened my eyes to the adversities of those in my community, and I wanted to share that experience with others in order to help fight these adversities. If I can't find any volunteer opportunities, I like to go down to the Bristol Wharf with trash bags to clean up the build up of pollution by the river. I've gone around other parts of the town to do this as well, but the Wharf is a go to spot for visitors and a lot of our wildlife. Cleaning up this area helps make our community look better to those outside of the community while also preventing any harm to the wildlife in the area. Being a leader is important to me because it helps build the confidence of those around me, and even my own. Being a good leader can improve work ethics, quality of work, and overall morale of those you are leading. It is so important to be a leader because it affects so many people. I want to have a positive impact on those around me.

Patience is a virtue, as everyone has heard before. It is a quality that is very important to have as a human being, allowing us to deal with overwhelming things with less stress. It allows us to de escalate arguments and disagreements quicker than if you're overflowing with anger. Patience allows us to process our emotions and others emotions before acting irrationally. Patience is important to me because it eases your mind. By stopping to take a breath before you do something, you allow yourself to think over what you are about to do and what/who has lead you to this point. Patience also keeps you from getting upset when something is taking longer than you had expected. You have to think of why that would be happening, if there is anything you can do to prevent it in the future, or if it is something out of your control that is not worth getting upset about. Patience allows us to maintain peace in our mind, body, and soul. It allows us to keep in mind if these things are something worth getting overwhelmed about, whether that is with anger, excitement, sadness, or some other emotion. Instead of allowing that emotion to take over completely, you can hold it back and remember that it most likely isn't worth allowing it to take over. Patience allows us to keep ourselves together in order to not upset others around us, ourselves, and those who would be affected by the situation at hand.

Education has always been very important to me. As I see those around me stop trying to learn once they are out of school, it makes me sad. Learning is not something that should be stopped by age, it's something we should want to pursue throughout our entire lives. I have no plans to stop learning any time soon. This means that the ways education shapes my worldview is constantly changing, which makes me very happy. Learning more, seeing more of the world, understanding things I never thought I would understand before- they all feel very freeing. Education isn't available to everyone. In poor cultures, or cultures where groups of people (women) aren't allowed to pursue an education, it's important to try to spread education to them. Charity funds to create school in some cultures, volunteers to build and teach these school, and willing students who want to learn are all factors that allow us to spread education. Seeing that some people don't have access to the education they want is painful. It's changed my worldview to see that I can help these people, even if I can't do it by myself, I can help give others close to the same access to schooling that I did. Growing up, I never realized that the education I was receiving wasn't accessible across the world. I thought everyone in my age group had to go through the same thing, no matter where in the world they lived. Although some people prefer learning through cultural experiences or others, it is still important to give children basic education such as reading, writing, and simple math to help them grow. WIthout understanding some simple things, they won't be able to grow to their true abilities. When people educate themselves on important matters within our world, it can change how they view such matters. Some examples would be racism, homophobia, classism, etc. When people downplay these issues and make them seem smaller than they are, it hurts those who struggle with them. Minorities have fought for their rights and acceptance in there communities for centuries, and making their experiences seem smaller than they are, or less important, it can cause a very negative effect. This could make people who tend to discriminate against those who are unlike them feel more justified in what they do, and prevent them from realizing how terrible it is. Becoming educated on these issues could help spread peace between different cultures, minorities, religions, etc. Education can help spread acceptance, peace, happiness, good experiences, positive emotions, positive growth (in both communities and people), and so much more. Education has shaped my worldview by opening my eyes to what I can personally do to help others, and how I can encourage more people to help others. Education is one of the most important experiences in life.

In the August of 2021, I tried to take my own life. I was sent to a mental behavioral facility in Horsham, PA, where I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. After being discharged, I started going to therapy weekly and seeing a psychiatrist every month. Soon after I started that, I was diagnosed with ADHD and OCD as well, with bipolar disorder on the waiting list to be diagnosed when I am 18. All of these things have made me who I am today. Through the struggles of figuring out what medicine combinations work the best for me, learning coping mechanisms to get me through every day, slowly building up a life worth living, I have realized that these diagnoses are just words. Although they have a huge impact on my actions, thoughts, and relationships, they don't define me. This influenced me to become more ambitious in my future endeavors; I want to show myself that these illnesses cannot hold me back. Through the years, I have struggled with maintaining relationships, focus, and good grades. I went through periods of self-isolation, increasing my hours at work, running myself into the ground, and doing anything I could to distract myself from the things going on in my head. I have gone through periods of self-destruction, cutting off everyone that cared about me, spending all of my freetime laying in bed, avoiding schoolwork and self-care, arguing with my family just so they would leave me alone, skipping meals, and self-harming. These were extremely hard times for me, and it has taken a lot of work to get past them. I feel that through these things, I have become stronger than ever. I still have some episodes where I am not myself, but they aren't as bad as they used to be. I am keeping up with my grades better than I have the past few years, I've kept my work hours in a middle-ground between too much and too little, and I use coping mechanisms when I really need to in order to keep myself together. This has motivated me to do more in my life after high school. I want to help people as much as I can, volunteering in my community and in other parts of the world during study-abroad programs. I want to help small businesses grow, fighting against the corruption of big corporations. I want to advocate for people like me, struggling with mental illnesses every day. If others saw how much work it takes to move past your mental illnesses, maybe they wouldn't think so lowly of people who have them. If people knew that it is okay to get help, they wouldn't have to suffer through their illnesses on their own. The stigma surrounded mental illnesses is disgusting, and needs to be fought against. These people are not weak, they are not sensitive, they are not "crazy". They are constantly fighting so hard in their own minds, and no one else can see. They are stronger than you could ever know, making through every day with war going on inside of them. Every small comment, every backhanded compliment, every side-eyed look, every murmur under your breath; these all take a little bit out of them and keep the war raging on. And somehow, they keep going. We are strong. We are fighters. And the world needs to do better to see that.

I am Asia Meditz, a hard-working, optimistic, passionate, and caring individual. I have some very ambition dreams for my college career, as well as plans for the future. Helping people is one of my passions, and I hope to use my degrees (bachelor's in accounting and master's of business administration) to help as many people as possible. I currently work at the 13th most profitable Wawa in the country, which is a very fast-paced store. This has taught me how to be more hard-working than ever. I am also very optimistic, which was an extremely difficult take for me to get to through mental illnesses. That's me!

This bottle is constantly full to the top, The tiniest drop makes it spill over. She tries to expand how much it can contain, But it seems to shrink every time. This bottle is covered in the colors of distress: The red of anger, The black of hatred, The grey of anxiety, The blue of despair, The orange of confusion, And the white of emptiness. It's designs show the danger of her mind, Circles for isolation, Squares for feigning ignorance, Zig zags for avoidance, Z's for sleeping time away, Clouds for the constant daydreaming and weird images of a bottle. This bottle is never less than full. Once tipped over, It's miraculously refilled instantaneously. But it's all in her head, She's just overthinking everything, It's just a phase, She'll get over it eventually. No one cares about the unstable girl Who self diagnosis for attention And not because no one at home pays enough attention to see her fall apart. Not because when she asks for help, she gets told to get over it, just be a kid, stop thinking so much. But because she wants all of the attention to be on her. Not because her sister already has the therapy, The diagnosis, The medicine, The help. Her brother has the attitude, The falling grades, The anger management problems, The arguments at home. So this one has to be the perfect child, Without any problems, Without academic challenges, WIthout the quick mood swings, Without any need for help. This bottle is a symbol Of lost hope for her future, Of the fear of being forgotten, Of the pain of being taken advantage of, Of the standards she's expected to exceed, Of a reality torn to shreds. This bottle is a symbol Of the strength it takes to keep going, The control it take to not break down, The power of smiling through the pain, The bravery of fighting through fears. This bottle is my symbol. This bottle is my strengths and weaknesses. This bottle is who I am. This bottle is me.

Staying true to yourself can be really hard sometimes. Through my life, I always tried to make everyone one around me happy. I became more of a people pleaser, putting everyone else's happiness and well-being before my own. This put a lot of pressure on me, especially when people started treating things as if I was expected to do them rather than a favor. People became dependent on me to do things for them without receiving anything in return, and the appreciation for what I did was lost. Although helping people is something I love doing, I realized that sometimes I need to put myself first. I can't let people take advantage of me, and I have to protect my own well-being. This is how I stay true to myself. I always tell people how I am actually feeling, and I let them know when they are invading my boundaries. I have stopped letting people walk all over me, and have allowed myself some space to heal and grow on my own. I still try to help people when I can, but I know that I need to set my own limits. And this is something I personally believe everyone should do. It can be very draining to have people take advantage of you all the time, and sometimes, it's okay to be selfish.

In my life, I have two main goals to make a positive impact in the world. There are so many ways anyone can make a positive impact in the world, even if it's something small like making someone smile. I try to make at least one positive impact every day, whether it's complimenting someone or cleaning up the pollution around my town. One of my goals to make a positive impact in the world in the future is to support small businesses throughout my entire career. After college, I plan on becoming a Certified Public/ Private Accountant, and I want to use that to help small business manage their finances to keep running. The courage and bravery it takes to start your own business is insane. I want to do anything I can to support these businesses who struggle so hard against the large, corrupted corporations that take over the retail/service industries. I live in a very small town, where small businesses are everywhere around us. I love these little shops because they show that you always have to start somewhere. Some businesses have grown out of our community, and that's okay because it shows the other businesses that they can do it. I've always been really good with numbers, so if I can use that ability to help people than I will. If there is someone who needs to learn how to budget better, how to save up for something while still have a liveable amount of money to work with, I want to be able to show them how. My mother is an accountant, and I want to use the ability to work with numbers well to help those around me. Another goal I have to make a positive impact in the world is to help fight against poverty and homelessness through community service. I have been a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation for five years now, which opened me up to the world of community service. Since then, I try to volunteer as often as possible between school and work. I will even go out on my own and bring trash bags around town to clean up the pollution and litter that people leave everywhere. In our town, there are a few different homeless communities in the woods and by the Delaware River. My family has brought many hot meals and supplies to these communities, which really showed me how little it can take to make someone's day. These people have been through so much, and if I can help them to feel even a little bit better, I will. Throughout my life, I plan on making a positive impact, if not in the world, than in my community at the least. Helping people is a very fulfilling task, and it doesn't take a lot of effort to do so. I want to help as many people as I can throughout my life time. I want to make a difference.

Something I love about myself would be my honesty. As a kid, I was a pathological liar, and it has taken me a long time to fight that habit. The lies just came to me so easily, that sometimes I didn't even realize that I was lying. Sometimes I would convince myself that those things were true. Whether it was due to my few mental illnesses or just a learned behavior from my father, I will never know. But I do know that it has taken me a lot of work to get to where I am today, and for that I am grateful. Honesty is the best policy, as they say. It's a policy that has taken me many places, more than my lying ever could. I have better relationships with my teachers now than I have in the past, I find it easier to make friends, and I haven't gotten in trouble at home. I love my honesty because it has been a large change for me, and a difficult one at that. It shows that no matter how hard something can be, I have the ability to push through it. Will it take time? Of course. But it shows that I can still do it.

Being a highly influential figure allows people to spread positive influences to more people in less time. If I was in such a position, I would stand for two main things: fighting homelessness and poverty. These two things have made a big impact on my own life, and I want to help in any way possible to prevent and Homelessness and poverty are two things that are very prominent in my community. Although we are better off now then we were before, my family has lived in poverty for my entire life. Even still, we would do what we can to bring supplies and hot meals to those who didn't have access to them in the tent communities around up. This was something that made me realize that no matter how hard you have it, there is always someone worse off than you. As a highly influential figure, I would spread awareness of these topics and encourage the fight for change. I would create an organization of volunteers who help those in need. I would increase the number of food pantries and homeless shelters around the country. Anything I can do to help those in need who have suffered through this issues, I would do it.

The best piece of advice I've ever received was from one of my friends in middle school. Even though we are no longer friends, her words will always stick with me. She said, "Sometimes, it's okay to be selfish." I have been a people pleaser for years. When she said this to me, I just kind of brushed it off at first. But as I thought about it later, I realized that I never allow myself to be selfish. It's always been very important to me to make sure everyone around me was happy. I never really stopped to make sure that I was happy as well. It took a lot of time to work through, but this was a turning point in my life. I began doing more things to take care of myself rather than putting everyone else before me. Although I still try to make sure those around me are happy, I also make sure I am not hurting myself in the process. There is a lot of bad stigma around being selfish, but it's not always a bad thing. It's okay to protect yourself, your values, and your mental health before helping those around you. If you keep up a constant cycle of helping those around you without helping yourself, it can lead you into a really bad place. It can be exhausting, both mentally and physically, and these people begin to rely on you when they have problems. It turns into something people just expect from you without appreciating. This is when it becomes a problem to be a people pleaser. To be selfish to protect yourself is a difficult process to go through after so long of being a people pleaser. But it is a necessary one in order to save your future self.

I have struggled with an eating disorder for years. When I didn't feel good about myself, I would rely on either starving myself or binge eating to distract me. Watching my calorie count, watching how often I exercise, and watching my weight became an unhealthy obsession. It lead me to dark places, full of large weight fluctuations, nearly passing out on multiple occasions, and exhaustion while running myself into the ground. If I wasn't at school or work, you could most likely find me running on the track or speed-walking around town to increase my exercise for the day. I became unfathomably skinny, but body dysmorphia lead me to believe that it was still too much. Meanwhile, I also got diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and OCD. This was a world-changing diagnosis for me. I realized that a lot of the behaviors associated with my eating disorder were underlying symptoms of these other mental illnesses. My obsession with the number going in and out of my body, the thoughts that my hunger pains were not enough, and the nervous feeling I got when others looked at me, thinking they were judging me; they all weren't normal things. I had been chasing a dream that was slowly killing me. One day, I ended up in the hospital after trying to take my own life, where I got sent to a behavioral health center. I spent almost two weeks there, being forced to eat three meals a day, trying different medications to see if they lifted my suicidal or anxious thoughts at all, and keeping up with self-care routines that I had barely paid attention to before. After my stay, I was on a meal plan that slowly increased through every day in order to build up my appetite. This was a brutal process, making me sick to my stomach every time I looked at the food given to me. I lived in a constant fear of what my next meal was, and if it was going to hurt me more than help me. Although it was such a painful process, I will always be glad it was something I went through. Without that, I might not be here today. The stigma surrounding eating disorders is despicable. People who say that those with eating disorders are just looking for attention, or body-shaming those around them without knowing why people look the way they do. Sometimes these comments sit really heavily in someone's brain, and it only makes them worse. Whether the comments are feeding into someone's eating disorder or making them depressed on top of that, they are immoral and wrong. People should be confident in their bodies no matter what size, shape, or number are put on them. This is something I feel very passionate, as I have gone through many similar experiences. To help others with these issues in the future, I plan on spreading body-positivity everywhere I go. No one deserves to feel uncomfortable in their own skin, and I will do anything I can to prevent that from happening and getting rid of it when it does.

My favorite book is "The Hanging Girl" by Eileen Cook. This book is about a high school girl named Skye whose mother is a "gifted" tarot card reader. When a girl from Skye's school suddenly goes missing, she tries to find out why. When she gets home to her apartment, she notices there are cops inside. Her mother was talking to them, using her "gift" to help solve the case. Skye knew her mother faked her ability. But the information she heard her mother feed to the police made her realize her mother knew far too much about this case for it to be a coincidence. When Skye becomes involved in the kidnapping, she is made aware that it is a fake kidnapping by the girl's father (who was a judge in their city) in order to gain publicity. Soon enough, it becomes all too real for anyone's liking. This book has been my favorite for years. I read a lot of books, and I always go back to this one. It shows how negative relationships with your parents can affect you in all aspects of life, and not just within your household. Skye and her mother have a very rocky relationship, and Skye's mother has always made Skye feel inferior and unimportant by bragging about her "gift". She would talk about so often that Skye thought she was a failure for not being born with such a gift. When she figures out that her mother's practice wasn't real, it changed her perspective completely. She looked down on her mom and didn't respect her as she did before. This book also shows how the people you involve yourself with can change you as a person. I love this book because of everything it teaches.

I think the biggest problem our world is facing right now is the fight against discrimination. Racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, and belief discrimination to name a few. These things drive us apart as human beings, forcing us to come together with only those who have the same views or identities as us. Although it is nice to be surrounded by those similar to you, it is also isolating other's views and shutting you out from seeing things in a new perspective. When people discriminate to everyone but their own kind, they lower their chances of keeping an open-mind and learning from those around them. Rather, they chose to surround themselves with people like them in order to always be correct- in their own mind of course. Systemic discrimination is a huge part of these issues. The amount of racism, classism, etc. that is rooted into our protection systems and government is absolutely disgusting. To fight these issues, we have to work from these roots and make our way to the common people from there. This is a huge task that requires a lot of peaceful protests and successes in getting good people into these systems. People always say that change comes from within, and I believe that to be true in this issue as well. Discrimination is one of the biggest issues in our world, and has been for centuries. It's going to take time to work on it, and it's true that it may never be completely gone, but there is hope for a more peaceful world. There's always hope.

To be independent means to be able to fend for yourself without the help of others. Of course, while being independent, you can ask for help from others when you need to, but the overwhelming amount of things you do are on your own. This can be things such as paying your bills, buying your groceries, renting an apartment, buying a house, or even something so small as deciding what to eat. Anything you can do without the help of others can be a sign of independence. The impact of independence on myself is a sense of freedom. When I am able to do something on my own, without the help of others, it feels sort of powerful. For example, when I got my first job all on my own, it felt amazing. I felt like I had finally done something independent, like a step towards adulthood. And when I finally get to college, it's going to feel even more freeing. Independence is a very important step to take in life. No matter how long it takes you to make that step, or how long it takes you to go through the process of that step, it is an extremely important life decision. And it is one that I plan to take as far as it can go.

I have been a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation for five years. This organization opened me up to the world of community service, and this has become a big part of my life. Helping others and watching them grow, finding better living situations or even getting a small job has been extremely fulfilling for me. Throughout high school, whenever I didn't have school or work, I would try to find somewhere in my community to volunteer, whether it was on my own or part of my organization. One thing I do on my own is bringing trash bags around my town and cleaning up the pollution to prevent it from piling up too much. Although it would be amazing to stop pollution completely, I know personally that that won't be happening anytime soon. So for now, I just clean up what I can to help out. I also volunteer at my local food pantry sometimes. The first time I did, we organized the food on the shelves to make specific things easier to find and make it look neater for those coming in. We also set up some care packages for those who don't have anything, that way they can have a little bit of everything to keep them going for a little while. Seeing people smile when you bring them a hot meal, help them clean up, or bring them necessities that they don't have access to is a very good feeling. Knowing you've done some good in the world, even if it's something as small as making someone smile when they're at their worst, is something I plan on doing for the rest of my life.

Staying optimistic these days is very difficult. There's always something negative going on in the world, all over the news, in newspapers, in magazines, on social media, and in our own communities. It's hard to stay positive when surrounded with negativity. Personally, I always try to find the good in the bad. There is always a light behind the darkness, always a pro to many cons, always a star in the deepest part of space. It's something that I've always tried to do, even if it seems near impossible. Throughout my life, I have struggled really hard with depression, anxiety, OCD, and ADHD. These things made it really hard for me to work past the negative things on my life, and instead I would obsess over the negative until they overwhelmed me. After starting treatments and therapy, I have started to realize that there is always the possibility of finding the good in the bad. It can be hard, but it is always doable. One way I have practiced this mindset is doing volunteer work. It can be really hard to see people or animals struggling, but doing even the smallest things to help them shows you how positive can be found in the negative. Sometimes it just requires a little push, an act of kindness, or a little bit of deep digging to find the light. But it is always, always possible.

I have been in a community service organization called the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation for the past five years. This organization brought me closer to my community, seeing the issues that go unseen. They're conversations people don't want to have because it is such a negative topic, but it doesn't have to be. These conversations need to be had in order to deal with the situation, and it can become a positive topic when we can see change. Change won't be made without having the conversations. Homelessness and poverty are the two biggest issues in my community. In order to help these issues, even just a little bit, I do my best to volunteer. I bring hot meals to the tent communities in my area, volunteer at the local food pantry, create events for teens and children to attend and have fun (especially for families who don't have the money to give their kids a lot of fun time), and I try to bring trash bags around town to clean up pollution at least one a week. Making changes in your community can be hard. But if many people do it at the same time, it doesn't have to be. People who avoid tough conversations can't help change the world around them. By avoiding the problem, you can't prevent the problem.

One thing I can say confidently that not many others can is that I have made a positive impact in my community. Although my impact has not been spread around the world, at least I know I have done so in my small, Bristol community. I've been very involved in community service in my town for the past five years. It's been a big part of my life, and a huge eye-opener to the struggles in my community. It's hard to see how much poverty and homelessness impacts my community, and how little people actually talk about it. I know some people say that it's a "tough topic", but it's a topic that needs to be dealt with no matter how difficult. Personally, I have been helping these issues. I volunteer at my local food pantry, I bring hot meals to people in tent communities who don't have access to them, I clean up around the town to reduce the amount of pollution, and I volunteer as a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation to encourage others to make positive impacts in their communities. It's important to me to help others help themselves, whether it's a mental impact or a push towards better living situations. Seeing the positive impact I've made on those around me makes me feel good about myself. It feels selfish to say I help others in order to help myself feel good, but no matter what your motivation to help others is, you are still making positive impacts. I plan on continuing community service throughout the rest of my life and continue doing what I do best- helping people.

One personal finance lesson that I find extremely important is actually something I am doing right now. Applying for scholarships is important for avoiding high student debts once you get out of college, and I think it's one of the most important thing you can do in life. Student debt has been a big problem in our country for decades. This leads people who graduate to only be working to pay off their debts rather than using their education to be successful. Many people go to school to find success in their career and live independently. It becomes a problem when they aren't making enough money to live on their own because they have to pay off the debts that lead them to where they are now. It's a very complicated thing to get rid of, but even if you can make it just a little less to pay off later, it helps. Maybe you could have a little extra money to live by rather than using all of your income to pay off your education. Although college tuition is unreasonably high in the U.S., many jobs do require you to have some kind of degree. But a lot of people don't want to get a degree only to use the job you got with said degree to pay off said degree. It's a complicated process to prevent, and a lot of people either wait to long to apply for scholarships or only apply for the high reward ones. Sure, high reward scholarships are more helpful than small ones, but they're also more competitive. Applying a lot of small ones can add up to the same amount of help as big ones. In order to be successful with finances later in life, scholarships are necessary.

My dream life is one where I have made a big impact in someone's life. Of course I want to be successful in my career, pursuing both a bachelor's in accounting and a master's in business administration, but that's just a job. I know I will like my job, but I care about the ways I can help people more. In my career, I hope to help small business owners build their companies. Small businesses are some of my favorite places to visit, and helping them grow would make me extremely happy. I believe they deserve more help than big corporations who can become corrupted, relying on sweatshops and exploitation to fulfill their high-demands. Small businesses are made by people who had the courage to create their own jobs rather than feeding into these big corporations. If I can help them with finances and numbers, just to help them keep running on a good budget, I'd know I've done some good in the world. I've always loved doing community service. It's been a big part of my life for the past five years and I plan on continuing it for the rest of my life. As long as I can continue helping people better themselves or their living situations. My dream life looks like a life full of helping others and seeing the changes I have helped them make in their own lives. My dream life is not necessarily one where I've been financially successful, but one where I have been morally successful. Gaining a higher education can help me do this, allowing me to budget myself to create my own community service organization as well as helping small businesses grow. That's my dream life.

Someone in history that I admire greatly is Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace- also known as Ada Lovelace. She was a gifted mathematician who is considered to be the first computer programmer. The reason I admire her so much is because in an industry so dominated by men, a woman was the first. There are many people who celebrate Konrad Zuse as the first computer programmer, even though it was technically Ada Lovelace. The reason for this is because he was the first to program an electronic computer. Ada Lovelace wrote all of her programs on paper, which went unprogrammed during her time. She didn't have the access necessary to build a computer, but her programs were the first. The Analytical Engine was the name of her program, and it used a simple series of instructions to complete complex calculations that were usually done by hand. I also admire her mother, who had mathematical training herself and insisted on giving Ada the same. Though this was a very unusual education for women at the time, Ada was very successful in her private studies. When shown a small working section of the Engine, she was amazed. Though she put aside her love for mathematics for her marriage and motherhood, she resumed her ambitions soon after her duties allowed. She published her own article about the Analytical Engine, which she called "The Notes". This contained her instructions for the computer to complete certain mathematical equations, and because it was successful, she became the world's first computer programmer. I admire her for being so intelligent and so forgotten in history. In the computer programming industry, so dominated by men, she was the first. A woman, which is why she goes forgotten. She is my symbol of a successful woman.

My goals in education and in life are two different things, though they do coincide eventually. In education, I hope to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's in business administration. These goals will help me become a certified public/private accountant, where I hope to help small businesses with finances to help them grow. In life, I want to help as many people as I can better their lives, whether it be financially or emotionally. Small businesses have always been a fascination of mine. It takes a lot of courage and hope to be able to start your own business. Sometimes, these businesses fail due to lack of funds, interest, or planning. Although downfalls are sometimes inevitable, I want to help small businesses keep their finances in-check to keep them running. Big corporations can become corrupted by politics, child labor, mass production, and so many other things that I believe small businesses are a better place to put your money into. Instead of feeding these big corporations, feed the ones who have the courage to grow against the others. I want to help them become what they dream to be. I want to be a part of that growth, and see the ways these places bring light to the communities around them. I believe helping others is a requirement as a human being. In helping others, you can pass forward the acts of kindness and spread them further than you could of imagined. I've been a part of a community service group in my own community for five years now, and it's changed me. I see the negative impacts of homelessness and poverty around me, and it feels good to be a part of a group that seeks to help them. When I go out on my own in the world, I will continue my pursuit of community service and opening people's eyes to problems bigger than their own. Whether it's bringing hot meals to people who don't have access to it, cleaning someone's house who has been a victim of mental illness, or raising money for the local food pantry so that the homeless don't go hungry, I want to do this for the rest of my life. Spreading awareness of the issues in our society and communities can only help fight against them, so why hide it? Why? Because I can. I can help people. I can brighten someone's day. I can open someone's eyes and mind. I can advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves. I can. And so can everyone else. It's something so small for some, yet so life-changing for others. If I do my best by helping people and fighting social stigmas, then I know I am successful. I don't need money, fame, or popularity to be the best I can be. Putting a smile on someone else's face is all I need to know I did at least a little good in this world. If people spread awareness across their communities, it can spread across their cities, states, countries, and eventually the world. If more and more people realize how little effort it can take to make a big impact in someone else's life, the world could be a happier place.

Listening shows appreciation, care, and builds connections. I always try to listen to those around me because I know what it feels like to reach out for help, but no one listens. Sometimes you need to get something off your chest, maybe you're excited about something and really want to tell someone, or maybe you're having issues with something and just need someone to hear you out. It hurts when you get ignored or brushed-off; it makes you feel like an inconvenience when you're not. To actively listen to those around me, I ask questions to keep them going, try to give them advice if they are looking for it, and, if they're not, I try to be empathetic and console them. Listening can help someone more than you think, allowing them to build more trust in you and know they have someone to talk to when they need it. These connections can help us get through life with less worries, or at least someone to help us when we're feeling down. No one should feel like an inconvenience for reaching out. No one should be pushed off for being excited or for expressing an issue that is big for them but small for others. If we live our lives being selfish and refusing to acknowledge others, the world becomes a very unwelcoming place.

In school, I've always had trouble focusing and staying motivated. I had no idea this was linked to ADHD, anxiety, or depression until lately. Although I have medications that help me work through these now, I can't say the same for the rest of my education. Through elementary school, middle school, and all the way until the summer after eleventh grade, I was unaware of the reason behind my struggles. It wasn't until I attempted to take my own life that these came to light. Before my diagnoses, I thought it was completely normal to struggle in school the way I did. I procrastinated, failed to get assignments done due to a lack of motivation, and never paid attention in school, leading me to not understanding the content. Although I didn't struggle with my grades until high school, these things still became issues beforehand. I would get in trouble for not paying attention in class, sleeping, staring into space, and not participating enough all the time. I now know why these things happened to me on a regular basis, but they weren't the only reason. With an IQ of 139, I was very quick to pick up materials if they were taught to me in a more one-on-one scenario. I got bored in class and kept myself distracted because I didn't feel as though I was being challenged enough, even when I would leave class for our gifted program. So instead of doing the obvious- pay attention and participate in class- I would just complete all of my work and go to the nurse's office to sleep. Now, this sounds like a terrible solution (which it was), but it worked for me as a kid. I kept my grades up without needing to pay attention or participate, and I still got to sleep during the day. As the years went on and I was unable to keep up this charade, I picked up new hobbies that allowed me to look busy while not paying attention. Poetry, doodling, memorizing song lyrics by writing them repeatedly, and creative writing were among these hobbies. Poetry allowed me to express my emotions, expand my creativity, expand my usage of metaphors and other figures of speech, and all of this without anyone else seeing it. It was my secret passion for years, which I now share with a few of my close friends. These hobbies allowed me to keep growing mentally while I wasn't being challenged enough in class, and I still kept my grades up. Now, I hope to pursue higher education in the field of business. My goal is to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in business administration. Once I have achieved these endeavors, I hope to pass the CPA exam and use it to become a forensic accountant or CPA. I live in a very small, historical town in Pennsylvania called Bristol Borough. I have lived here my entire life, and although it is a fairly poor community and a little overcrowded, I love my home. We don't have a lot of money to spend for school, especially since me and my twin sister are both leaving for college at the same time. By applying for scholarships such as this one, I hope that I can pursue these goals I've set for myself without being held back by student debts. Or at least make them smaller than they would be without. I have dreamed of going to college from the time I reached the fourth grade. It was a sign of independence, intelligence, and adulthood for me. It's a goal I knew I would achieve, and would let nothing stand in my way. Now that I'm finally on my way to getting there, it feels amazing. I think about it every day; I'm going to get to experience an entirely new place, with new people, new friends, new teachers, new classes, new terrain, etc. For me to finally get a college education, it means freedom. Freedom from the restraints of childhood, freedom from my parents' control, freedom from constantly being compared to my sister, freedom from everything I know now. Although that thought is scary, it's also extremely exciting. It's like I can feel a weight slowly being lifted off my chest as I near my escape. But for now, I have to live with what I have. I don't do too much outside of school other than work. I have a part-time job at a Wawa near me as a customer service associate. Currently, we are the thirteenth most profitable store in the company, which means we are busy all the time. I've worked there for almost a year and a half now, and it's taught me how to keep up with fast-paced working conditions, as well as efficient communication with others. Being in a poor household has taught me that I need to work for the things that I want. I got my first job at fifteen, and since then have worked to earn the money for things I want since my parents couldn't afford them. It allows me to learn more about the working world before I dive in head-first from college, and also allows me to save up money for my college experiences. I try to learn through every experience I have. In my workplace, I learn how to deal with situations I wouldn't have thought of without it. In my household, I learn the ins-and-outs of unhealthy communication and how to deescalate when arguments occur. In school, I learn how to deal with people who are unwilling to cooperate through teacher's interactions with students. In my community, I learn the extent to which poverty and homelessness has gone unseen, and how I can help. I feed my curiosity through every experience and make the most of it. Thank you so much for allowing me to apply for this scholarship, and I hope you will consider me!

I have been a part of the Bristol Borough Teen Foundation since the August of 2018. In this organization, we volunteer around our community, organize and help in community events, cleanup around our town, and offer outlets for teens to open up about their struggles or even just give them somewhere to be themselves. This program, run my Brianna Curran, has definitely opened my eyes, as well as others, to the struggles within our community and how small of an effort it takes to help. I have done over 100 hours of community service, about 60 of them being with the Teen Foundation alone. Serving my community has always been an important part of my life, watching how the smalls things I do can make big impacts on others. Smiling faces are one of my favorite benefits of helping others, knowing that I have helped them ever-so-slightly. I think my biggest take-away from volunteering around my community would be how little effort it can take to make an impact in another person's life. I've noticed that a lot of people don't volunteer because they think they don't have the time, they don't have the energy, or don't want to put in the work it takes. Some people don't realize that it only takes a little bit of effort to make a difference. It doesn't have to be a world-changing task, but any little thing that helps others. Personally, helping others gives me a sense of importance and purpose, knowing I've even had the slightest of impacts for the better. One of my favorite volunteer experiences that I've had was helping out at my local food shelter. A few members of the Teen Foundation were brought together to organize new donations and help organize handouts for people in need. During that experience, I got to see how many people in my community are in need. You never truly grasp the spread of poverty in your community until you see how many people come to these places for help. It can be a huge eye-opener for some people, encouraging them to help more or bring other to help as well. Volunteering has been a big part of my high-school life. It feels good to help people, especially when you've been in their shoes. Any little bit helps. No matter how big or small, the energy you put into helping your community is important. Spreading awareness for those around you who need help, of course letting them remain anonymous if they wish to do so, can encourage people to help in your community or within their own. Spreading the love for volunteering can help to make the world a better place. If everyone puts in a little effort, a huge impact could be seen. I am very passionate about community service, and plan on continuing what I do in college and afterwards. Every little thing helps, and I plan on doing what I can for the rest of my life.

One practical solution would be to get rid of the stigma around mentally ill people or those struggling with their mental health. A lot of stereotypes call us crazy, psychos, and many other hurtful names that prevent people from opening up about their struggles. Witnessing the things that can happen to those who openly struggle with their mental health, such as bullying, invalidation, or harassment, makes it harder for others to come forward about their own. Although there are many people and organizations that try to fight against this stigma, it still spreads around kids too young to understand that what they are saying is hurtful. These kids then grow up thinking this way, and it creates a bad cycle of learned behavior. If we teach kids younger and younger that it is okay to struggle with mental health and it is okay to help those around you whole are struggling with mental health, maybe we can fight this stigma. To show the signs and symptoms, preventions and treatments, or even just creating more affordable spaces for people to open up about their struggles, there could be more people who search for help and less people who look down on those with these struggles. A lot of the stereotypes and stigma that affects the mental health community revolves around a lack of education. Psychology is a widely growing field that isn't taught to enough kids in high school, or even simplified courses for elementary and middle school kids. If we increase the education about mental health to the younger groups, we can hope for a better future where people don't have to hide their struggles.