Being hard working is a core value that I hold very closely. It has driven me to follow my goals and pursue what I want to achieve in life. I have decided that pursuing my dream of working in the medical field is something that I want to do with my life. I can acknowledge that it is a long, hard road to get an undergraduate degree, followed by years of studying medical school. This is a challenging plan that I have set for myself, but I also know this is something that I want to do and it will be worth working hard to achieve. Throughout high school, I have consistently selected challenging classes to take and I have worked to maintain my grades in those classes. I have passed AP Human Geography with a 5 and I have passed both AP World History and AP Chemistry with 4’s. All of those scores have been achieved through hard work and dedication. I have taken three AP classes and two IB classes - sometimes at the same time - and one of the first lessons that I learned is not something I gained from a lecture. I have learned that these classes are not easy, and that the only way to do well on a test is to manage my time and to study effectively. I have also learned that I am at my best when I am challenging myself. On top of challenging myself with a difficult academic schedule, I have also dedicated myself to running on the Cross Country and Track teams every day. I am really proud of my achievements in my academics because of my performance in difficult classes, but I am also proud of my extracurricular achievements because of how much time and effort I have expended to get to where I am on the team. I have set two school records in Cross Country, placed first in Region 3A in both sports, and consistently placed highly on the team in both Track and Cross Country. An important part of my success has been leading the team as a team captain. I have truly enjoyed working with younger runners to develop a positive and supportive team culture. I am very proud and happy to be a part of the team culture that I helped to foster. Even with my achievements in sports, I have decided to focus on academics in college and not participate competitively in sports. This was a decision that I thought about for a long time but I believe that it will ultimately help me focus on achieving the goals I have set for myself. Unfortunately however, this means that I do not qualify for any sports related scholarships and I know that I will continue my education beyond Furman University. This scholarship would help me to financially achieve my goals.