Uniqueness is subjective. It’s one of the qualities that seem to alter before the mind’s eye of every person. That’s a magical quality to me. I love how individuality and rebellion help people to stand out in a sea of conformity. I am no stranger to veering off the path of fitting in. When I started preschool, I began to realize that everyone wanted little boys to play with superheroes and matchbox cars, but I simply was not entertained. I would walk my way right over to the dresses, where all the fabric sparkled under the light and the plastic heels fit my feet just right. I would dance around the preschool classroom and waltz past the boringness of “boy toys.” I wasn’t afraid to do the things that brought me joy. Teachers and family members sometimes encouraged me to stray from girl toys and I just couldn’t understand why. I was persistent and relentless in my pursuits of being the princess. When I entered middle school, I began to understand why the world was scared of little boys playing with dolls. I started to notice as all the boys in my class seemed to understand the world so differently than I. They wanted to play sports and talk about girls, which I just didn’t seem to understand. The girls in my class were dealing with their own interests and seemed to separate too. There I was; confused and alone. My experience was not unique, but my feelings were isolating and all-consuming. What were these feelings and why did they overwhelm me? What could I do to fit in? Every maverick must break free from the chains of conformity. Over time, I accepted that I was gay. Like many other queer kids, the journey was not paved and clear. I had to learn how to break the barriers and fight alone at a small, Catholic school. I developed a new style and let nonconformity be the theme of my existence. I found identity in blazing a new trail. High School has been no different for me. I quickly thickened my skin and valued the very thing that was different about me. Sophomore year, I was convinced to try out for cheer. When I made the team, I accepted a new journey. I had once again cast an earthquake that shook the foundations. I was the first male cheerleader at a Catholic school. Eventually, I even became captain and explored leadership as a queer person. I knew that people were upset with me, but greater than my identity as a gay person, was my passion to bring about change. A lot of my friends don’t understand my investment in the things I’m passionate about. Dare I say my passion is unique? My mom often says “He can’t do anything unless he’s passionate” and maybe that’s why homework is such a challenge! I want to raise the voices of the people on the margins. I believe that no queer child should be left in the same isolation and frustration I was. We need to increase representation, so that is exactly what I am working towards. My leadership on cheer helped me to feel seen and increased exposure to queer people for spectators. I hosted and organized a charity pageant at my school that raised $21,000 to support healthcare in my valley. I work on the social media teams at my school to increase representation for all. But, I am not done! I want to do more to support other communities as well. I hope to be a maverick of change.

Earlier this year, I had the unique privilege of traveling to Browning, Montana to learn about the Blackfeet Tribe. The Blackfeet Tribe has suffered years of generational inequality at the hands of the US government. The Blackfeet Reservation is stricken with poverty and a lack of access to many opportunities other US citizens have. But, their tribe is not without hope and vitality. Quickly, upon arriving, I realized that I was here to listen and learn. My time serving in the De La Salle Blackfeet School taught me far more than any classroom. I learned that community service is a teacher. The Blackfeet people shared their stories, language, and culture with me. No amount of service could begin to amount to the gifts they gave me. I realize that community service is not always grueling selfless work, but that there is a gift in the people you serve. Browning, Montana is not my community, but for my week-long immersion there, I was able to sync to the heartbeat of Blackfeet Culture. When I began to understand how the Blackfeet valued their land, history, and culture, I realized I could value my own community. I discovered the Yakima Valley Memorial Youthworks Council. When I made the council, I discovered what it was all about. Our mission is for youth leaders to fundraise, advocate, educate, and expand medical care across my valley. Through attending meetings, meeting patients, and touring medical facilities, I learned that community service is a bridge. Serving my community helped bridge my education and experience gap. I had the privilege and responsibility to allocate millions of dollars to sectors of different healthcare facilities in MY VERY OWN VALLEY! I could help to give the same heartbeat I experience in Browning, Montana to my own community. I was asked if I would organize, direct, and coordinate a charity pageant at my school for the Youthworks Council. I debated if I should try and juggle this responsibility with already being a varsity cheerleader, working a job, and all the stress of the college process in senior year. But, I had to remind myself that opportunities to serve my community are everywhere, and I must put my pride aside and say yes. So, in the words of my legend Taylor Swift, I jumped in “Head First Fearless”. Community service takes leaders and changemakers who stand up to problems in their communities. I am thankful for all the leaders who helped me on my journey. I gathered my contestants, worked hard to plan fundraisers like restaurant takeovers and pizza lunches, and even wrote a full script for the pageant. When the pageant ended and the stress subdued, I realized that I had helped raise $21,000 to expand healthcare and cancer care in my valley. This taught me one of the greatest lessons about community service. Every person I have served, or rather those who have served me with their stories, has cultivated unbridled passion and advocacy in me. My community service journey is not finished. I am not done yet. I have a myriad of social justice and human rights concerns I have yet to serve. Community service has fostered my ambition. I want to learn and hear the stories of others. I want to bridge the gap between realities different from mine. I want to lead with selfless mirth. I want to be a changemaker and “doer”. This is community service. This is wanting something different for your homeland.

Four classroom walls. Freshly sharpened pencils. Nervous students enter, careful not to make a scene. Freshly printed worksheets off the printer. And one teacher… who has nine months to change lives. This is the sole reason that a career in education extends so much further than that of the school classroom. Teachers and educators have some of the most unique responsibilities ever left out of the job description. I believe education starts in the heart, and thus, teaching is an overwhelming, all-consuming work of the mind, body, and soul. This call to the participation of your whole being is simply not suited for a size 12, times new roman job description. Teachers are required to exert themselves beyond a trite contract. No matter the level of education, no instruction or textbook can prepare you for this responsibility. But, that is precisely what makes teaching one of the most important callings in the world. Before you, sits a classroom of young minds, at the will of your instruction. Will you choose to inspire and uplift them, or to give them a forgettable year of bare minimums? The choice is the teachers. The students are young, impressionable, and simply the future. Their hearts and minds branch out before you, begging to leave with inspiration. This is the beauty, you have the power to influence the future. Teaching gives the educator the choice. As a teacher, we must shed back the layers of disruption and disobedience and find the human. To pull back the layers of trauma and pain from every student, and find where inside of them is an opportunity for love. That is what I love about education. Every second is an opportunity to love and to teach love. My wish is to be an educator that finds the beauty in every person and respects them as human beings first and foremost. Let every student that leaves my classroom, feel if nothing else, that someone cares for them. Let my classroom never reach a level of indoctrination or ignorance. Rather, I pray my classroom will be a place where everyone has room at the table to pull up a seat and share their powerful experiences. But too, let me not forget the rigor of academia. In pursuit of a career in English education, let me understand the power of words. I can only imagine this power being shared with my students in an intellectual feast. I hope to bring the messages of authors through my literature curriculum to the table in a feast of stories. But, let me also eat from the intellectual feast as I hope my students will have the chance to bring their journeys to the banquet. As a queer teacher, I want to empower everyone whom the education system has not been friendly. My classroom shall be an explosion of non-conformity. I believe the best books to teach have been banned. I believe the most important conversation to have, make people uncomfortable. That is the vision of my classroom. A room where the teacher cares for the human and the lessons extend further than the walls of an academic institution. This is my dream for education. This is my dream for future generations. With that, may I always remind myself that teaching is just about fostering the future.

Teachers and educators have some of the most unique responsibilities ever left out of the job description. Merely 9 months… to change lives! I believe education starts in the heart, and thus, teaching is an overwhelming, all-consuming work of the mind, body, and soul. No matter the level of education, no instruction or textbook can prepare you for this responsibility. But, that is precisely what makes teaching one of the most important callings in the world. Before you, sits a classroom of young minds, at the will of your instruction. Their hearts and minds branch out before you, begging to leave with inspiration. This is the beauty, you have the power to influence the future. As a teacher, we must shed back the layers of disruption and disobedience and find the human. That is what I love about education. Every second is an opportunity to love and to teach love. My wish is to be an educator that finds the beauty in every person and respects them as human beings first and foremost. Let every student that leaves my classroom, feel if nothing else, that someone cares for them. Let my classroom never reach a level of indoctrination or ignorance. Rather, I pray my classroom will be a place where everyone has room at the table to pull up a seat and share their powerful experiences. But too, let me not forget the rigor of academia. In pursuit of a career in English education, let me understand the power of words. I hope to bring the messages of authors through my literature curriculum to the table in a feast of stories. But, let me also eat from the intellectual feast as I hope my students will have the chance to bring their journeys to the banquet. As a queer teacher, I want to empower everyone whom the education system has not been friendly. My classroom shall be an explosion of non-conformity. I believe the best books to teach have been banned. I believe the most important conversation to have, make people uncomfortable. That is the vision of my classroom. A room where the teacher cares for the human and the lessons extend further than the walls of an academic institution. This is my dream for education. This is my dream for future generations. With that, may I always remind myself that teaching is just about fostering the future.

They often say passion is like fire. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve always loved the way passion is irrational. The way passion begs every bone in your body and every string of your heart to move towards one goal. Passion knows no constraints. Passion moves souls into action and changes lives. I’ve always loved the way passion is the driving force of change. That being said, I think that I have always been most fond of my passionate attitude. While playing soccer as a child, I remember telling my mom that I simply couldn’t carry on. “You’ve always loved soccer! Why now?” she would say. The simplicity of my eight-year-old answer of “I just don’t want to anymore”, seems to be an answer we try to rationalize with excuses as we get older. Even at eight years old, I knew that passion must exist to drive my actions. I didn’t like soccer and all the activity that was expressionless and emotionless. Carrying on, I decided to try out acting. Instantly, I learned that passion could move me to deep commitment and love of the stage. At 12, I realized that passion could overwhelm my life and invest me deeply into the things I loved. High School was a new page in the story of my life. I was scared and timid as I entered a small Catholic school as an openly gay 15-year-old. I just hoped to lay low and keep my head down as I fought a battle entirely invisible. But, with all of my great moments, passion did not hold back. When I would attend football games and watch the way the cheerleaders seemed to sparkle in the light, a new spark began to ignite in me. I wanted to be down there. To be clad in a cheer uniform and dancing while my pom poms followed my every movement in great bursts of animation. The passion began to blaze my forest of fear. I mustered the courage and tried out for cheer as a Sophomore. I made it on the team and used my passion to help me learn all of the cheers and to create a family out of a group of friends. Naturally, I was still scared as I was the first male cheerleader at a Catholic school. I used my passion as armor to deflect any hatred and learned the power of authenticity in the process. I’m so thankful that passion begged me to be unapologetically me and never back down. I've valued the role of my passion in my life. I love the way passion brought me to self-love and unapologetic expression. I’m grateful passion has allowed me to lead as cheer captain. I am indebted to passion when it nudged me to travel to Montana to volunteer for and listen to the stories of the Blackfeet Natives. Lastly, I’m humbled before passion for it engenders a deep commitment to my future goals. I think my passion will sustain my commitment to becoming an English teacher who wants to create a classroom of love and story-sharing. Somedays, I fight the way passion overwhelms my life, but today I chose to thank it. Thank you passion, for leading me to self-love, leadership, and service, and I can’t wait to see where you take me!