I hate to admit this, but in most of the books I have read, I do not remember their main plot points. I rush through reading and unless the books have a large fan base, I do not think about them past the initial read-through. However, one book that has stuck with me for the past 7 or so years is "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin. This book is about a girl entering middle school while dealing with the loss of her closest friend. However, it quickly becomes clear to the reader that the narrator may have autism, due to the random facts, social awkwardness, and development of her special interest -- jellyfish. She is selectively mute and uses the scientific method to work through her grief surrounding her friend's untimely death. I first read "The Thing About Jellyfish" around the time my grandfather died and I was close to the age the main character was in the story. Science and math have always been my favorite subjects in school. Even now, as I study music production, I find myself fascinated by mathematical theories, the science behind sound, and the "whys" that motivate life. So, I was able to find myself in the main character. I decided to reread this book in preparation for this scholarship essay and found many lessons that would be helpful in any stage of life. Lessons like 'grief can take many forms,' 'sometimes it's better to listen than to talk,' and 'it's okay to ask for help instead of running away'. This book simplifies the solutions to problems every person will experience at some point in their life, and processes them in a logical, yet human way. This book is also helpful in understanding how to help others through loss and grief. Toward the end of the book, the main character was planning to run away from her family to try and investigate a possible cause of the death of her friend for closure, even though the possibility seems so far-fetched. Some people need all the answers to rationalize how a loved one lost their life, whereas others may be too scared of the answer to want to know the whole truth. Overall, this book gives a perspective of emotions that is usually very difficult to put into words, so Ali Benjamin put it into action.

My dream version of my future self always has my home open to my friends, my hands ready to help another human, and my heart ready to create at a moment's notice by living fearlessly and experiencing anything.

After my first year living on a college campus, I have been able to interact with a more diverse community than I was in high school. My high school only had about five hundred students and the demographics were mostly white. I interacted with a few students in my high school who identified with the LGBTQ+ community and listened to their experiences to learn how to help them. At Ohio University, the demographics are much more diverse with more students from other countries and different communities than the one raised me. Despite the diversity, I still see common mannerisms and interests between many students. The connections made in a community made of diverse backgrounds are what makes me proud to be an American. Currently, as I am writing this essay, there are a lot of controversies surrounding the federal and state governments. Some examples include the call for more gun restrictions following the Nashville school shooting, censorship of books and social media, and the ban on drag performances in many states. There are other social issues that I feel strongly about due to its presence in my communities like Roe vs. Wade being overturned because it affects my healthcare as a woman. These are all issues that I am concerned about as a resident of the United States, but one change I would like to see in my life for our country is more community involvement among all members. Many times, only students and small business employees are concerned about community involvement, but the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” still rings true in modern times. By asking the community to be more involved, not only children reap the benefits, but the community will benefit as well. America has become an individualistically minded country, where it takes more time to travel from place to place due to the amount of land available to us, where many people do not have to interact with many others to get essentials for living. We do not trust others with the things most valuable to us. If we compare this idea to communities like Japan, we see that they are more comfortable with each other. A show aired in Japan that can be found on Netflix called "Old Enough," has parents give their young children small errands and trust that their communities will assist the children during this journey. This encourages the child’s independence and teaches them how to rely on members of the community. Many adults who interact with and aid children in their endeavors also benefit from their curiosity and energy. Another show, "Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds," is a social experiment that brings young children to a retirement home in hopes that the children will raise the spirits of the elderly, the elderly will pass their wisdom to the children, and they will both create friendships. I hope to impact this change by first interacting with more children because I will gain hope and encouragement from them. Babysitting is something I could do again because it gave me great opportunities to interact with kids and see what is developing their personalities. Then, I will also begin starting conversations with some of the older people in my community, like the members of the church I attend, Urbana Church of the Nazarene, or the people I interact with at my job at Ohio Caverns over this summer. Lastly, as I become more comfortable in my education and future career, I can create community programs to encourage interaction between younger and older people to increase community involvement.

Growing up in a small town, I had opportunities to learn about leadership and act as a leader among my peers. My graduating class is 110 strong, but with the numerous extracurricular activities my school is involved in, I had a chance to be involved and,eventually step into, some leadership positions during my senior year; the first being student director and band president for my school’s marching band. With these positions, I would help direct practices and conduct the band if our director could not be there. My peers also looked to me when a decision needed to be made. If we had to decide whether to wear summer uniforms or performance uniforms for a certain event, or when we had to decide as a senior class what we wanted to gift our band director to show our appreciation, I made sure to get a variety of opinions involved. With everyone participating, I was able to anticipate their needs and wants and make a decision. I was also granted the role of team captain for my senior year of swim team. This role required me to participate in coaches and captains meetings and to relay the information I got to my teammates. I also believe a big part of my role was to encourage my teammates during practices and swim meets. I was there to cheer them on and to help them push past obstacles. I plan to give back to my community by supporting local arts, both monetarily and through volunteer work. Our local theater was recently reopened and is undergoing renovations, but I remember when the arts in our community were not as vibrant nor prioritized. To me, it was a time where the arts seemed almost unreachable and reserved for special occasions. My family would have to take the time to travel out of town for movie theaters and concerts. However, when the local theater opened back up, our town was inspired to continue inviting the arts into our community. We now have concerts in the park during the summer and during fair week, we have a fundraiser called “Bad Art by Good People” where we invite local leaders to create art and compete for a prize, and we continue to bring artists together to sell art in the town square. I would like to bring in musical artists and visual artists that are more relevant to younger generations because they represent the future of our communities and their experience of appreciating art is being limited to school programs. Monetary funding would allow communities to bring in bigger artists and fund more programs for a lower expense on behalf of the community, but I would like to be involved with the arts council and volunteering by bringing my vision into my community.