I was born and raised in North Dakota. My papa Gary Allery lives in Belcourt so this scholarship caught my eye. We've been attending the Turtle Mountain powwow for a few years, so this scholarship does hit close to home for me. I digress, I should talk about how I serve my community. Getting ready for college and working takes a lot of my time. I don't have money to give to charities since I need to save up for college and pay for renovating our house but I help people at any chance I get. Small things like opening and holding the door for people walking behind me to make it easier on them, adding sprinkles to kid's ice cream when I'm at work at our local small-town coffee shop, or picking up trash on the streets when I come across it. I enjoy baking but of course, my family can't eat everything so I often bring baked goods to school to share with other students. A home-baked piece of chocolate chip banana bread can do wonders for a high school student's morale, I'll tell you that. I do what I can to make people's days brighter even if it is just a small kindness I pray it makes a difference. Besides doing small acts of kindness when I can, I try to do bigger things that have a greater impact. For three years now I have been in a community service club called 4H, specifically the Bremen Friendly Neighbors club. This club does some kind of community service every month after our meeting. For instance, in one month we planned to weed gardens at the nursing home. We do other things like sending kind letters to healthcare workers, donating extra funds to the fairgrounds to improve the grandstands, and a bunch of other things. When the 4H group isn't doing large-scale community service, we are helping the younger kids of the club learn how to be the best possible kids they can be. We help the younger kids learn about livestock, make arts and crafts to express themselves, and do other things. I love helping my community so much that I have been an ambassador at the fair for several years now. Being an ambassador is the greatest honor- I get to spend my time at the county fair every year helping everyone from the fair-goers finding their way around to the 4H-ers who have livestock and projects to get to places on time. This year I wanted to do more, so I did and I became the 4H club Secretary. I take notes about the meetings to help our club advisors. One more thing I would like to mention that I am very proud of, my hard work at the fair paid off and I along with other students got recognized and had our names carved on a plaque. The highest honor for an ambassador is to be on that plaque because it shows that you are a hard and dedicated worker. I won't stop here either. When I grow older and have more money, I want to start a rescue ranch. It is my dream to help lost animals find love and help humans find their best friends in animals. My contributions may not be much now but I think it is better than doing nothing at all. Thank you so much for reading!

My absolute favorite scientific discovery is a drug called Quinine. This drug, Quinine, was the ever first cure for malaria. A legend about the discovery of Quinine goes as follows- A disoriented Indian man with a high fever was lost in the Andean jungle of South America. The man stumbled upon a small pool of stagnant water. He took a drink of the water and realized it was bitter! The man panicked a little, thinking that the bitter water had poisoned him but fortunately much to his surprise, the water cured his fever. The bitter water that the man was sure would kill him has healed him! it was a miracle! The man eventually found his way back to his village and shared the discovery of the bitter miracle water with his people. The ancient indian peoples of South America discovered that something about these trees cured their malaria fevers! This discovery of the miracle water stayed with the people. There are records of missionaries from the 1600s in South America using products from miracle trees to cure their malaria fevers. This cure evolved from strange miracle water in the jungle to a treebark-alcoholic-tonic mixture to an actual medicinal pill. The accidental discovery of malaria in the Andean jungle has saved hundreds if not thousands of lives. Which is why the discovery of Quinine from extracts of the quina-quina tree's bark is my favorite scientific discovery.

My Instagram handle is "omg.seil14" My best back-to-school tip is, "Roll with the punches, keep your head up, and remember to rest." The rationale behind my tip is that no matter what, to get that degree, diploma, certificate, or what have you, you have to roll with the punches. Do the assignments that you don't want to do. Keep your head up if you don't get the grade you want. And most importantly, get some rest! You can't be productive when you're a sleep-deprived zombie!

I will be honest and say that I grew up watching Disney movies on VHS tapes every night. I would be lulled to sleep by the Little Mermaid singing about life on land. I loved those movies, playing them and rewinding them every night. I had an entire bookshelf to myself to store the bulky VHS cases, my family would buy me Disney plushies, and would always be inspired to sing about whatever was happening around me just like the princesses I saw on the TV. As I got older and got busier, unfortunately, I stopped watching as much Disney, in fact, I stopped watching TV altogether in favor of reading books. My love for stories transitioned from watching images on a screen to picturing them in my head. I devoured book after book, mostly of Harry Potter which I believe is owned by Disney. So, at any time in my childhood, I was consuming Disney material and absolutely loving it. But to finally answer the question, my favorite Disney character is Pocahontas because she was a free-spirited yet brave woman. Pocahontas enjoyed her life and her freedoms in the forest- she sang about the beauty of nature in the iconic song colors of the wind. The movie didn't just say that nature was only for excitement, Pocahontas went to the grandmother tree for advice which was a lesson that nature can be peaceful and healing. The entire movie was a well-made lesson about why we should respect nature which I appreciate as a farmer and an overall nature lover. The protagonist was a beautiful woman who is relatable to kids with her carefree spirit but a good role model for kids because she stands up for what she believes in. Though I may have been influenced by my Chippewa grandpa to love Pocahontas so much. There are tons of Disney movies available and more being made every day but still, I choose Pocahontas as my favorite.

I describe "selflessness" as expending energy to make the world around you a better place. Using your time, your body and hands, and your words to spread positivity are selfless to me. Of course, I believe that describing yourself as a selfless person is sort of an oxymoron in a way because a truly selfless person would help others as sort of a hobby. Someone who is selfless actively seeks out the opportunity to help people and enjoys making the space around them a better place overall. I confidently embody selflessness every day. I try my best to be selfless since I go out of my way to make others just a little bit happier. I go out of my way to do at least one small action like adding sprinkles to drinks at my job at the local coffee shop in hopes of putting a smile on the customer's face. Of course, I enjoy doing bigger things like volunteering my time to organizations like 4H and the North Dakota Adopt-A-Highway program. I have been volunteering at our county fair every year for three years- going on four this year. This is my first year volunteering for the Adopt-A-Highway Program but I look forward to beautifying our state by picking up trash out of the road ditches. I mentioned 4H before and I wanted to talk a little bit more about that. So, when I volunteer my time as a 4H ambassador at the county fair I help kids with their animals, I help the parents in the 4H food booth, and I help other fair goers by directing them to wherever they need to go. I really enjoy my time as a 4H ambassador because I also get to help the activities run more smoothly. Just last year I was allowed to help the judges with the sheep, goat, swine, and beef shows which was a ton of fun! Helping out with the shows was a great learning experience for me, I now understand the fundamentals of showing an animal. After each animal was judged I got to give the kids who were showing their prize ribbons. As of right now, I don't have enough money to help everyone I want to. Some day when I win the lottery and I'm rich, I want to have a large home and rescue animals. My future will have foster children, and unloved pets that are given a second chance at happiness, and I want to sponsor clubs. I would like to repay all of the kindness everyone has shown me throughout the years whether it be with my words, actions, or my finances.

I am allergic to something in cigarette smoke. I think this allergy affects me because my mother smoked a lot when I was younger and would have me stay in the back room of the bar she worked at. I would stay there for hours after school because I wasn't old enough to take care of myself at home. This smoke allergy is thankfully very avoidable so long as I stay away from places like bars and wherever else people smoke cigarettes. I've only been truly sick from being near my allergin twice, both times it affected me in the form of pneumonia. Other times if I'm at a public event like a fair and I sit around people smoking for too long my nose will run and it'll feel a little harder to breathe. My allergy gives me a little cold, I guess. Thankfully I never had a major problem arise from this smoke I have one other allergy that I know of. It's sort of strange but I am allergic to mango skin. Thankfully I'm not allergic to the fruit itself but just the skin which makes my family doctor and my family a little bit skeptical of me. When I wasn't aware of my allergy I would cut the fruit into pieces and peel the flesh from the skin with my teeth. It started with just an irritated spot on my lower lip and eventually progressed to itchy, red hives all over my body. These bumps would cover my lips and area around my mouth completely and then travel down to affect my chest, arms, and legs. My doctor has advised me to stop eating mangoes like that because my next reaction could be anaphylaxis. Of course, I have been very fortunate with my strange allergies. I've never yet had to experience the terrifying reality of anaphylactic shock. My allergies are relatively easily avoided and I am grateful that the treatments for my allergies are pretty simple. Antihistamine cream or antibiotics will cure my ailments within a week. I still have some struggles with allergies but I will take a moment to recognize that I don't have it nearly as bad as others. While others have to check every food label they come across to make sure it doesn't have things like peanuts, gluten, or certain dyes. I am extremely grateful for this life and no matter what my struggles may be big or small- I just want to make the most of it.

I will be the first to admit to anyone who asks, that I have not always had the best mental, physical, or nutritional health. My mental health has always been so-so as a child but it really declined around three years ago. I'm proud of how hard I've fought to still be here and try my best to be successful. Around middle school, about three years ago, my mental health was not great. Actually, I was suicidal. I just didn't want to be here anymore, my life had no purpose, and I just felt like a burden to my mother and my grandma who I was living at the time. I was influenced by the church I went to at the time, and I was convinced that I would go to Hell for questioning Jesus's existence and being born out of wedlock. I dressed akin to my mother who wore dark clothes and makeup so I got bullied for my "emo" appearance, kids would tell me to cut my wrists, kill myself, and make jokes that I worship satan. I told my mother of my problems at school and she told the school who valiantly did absolutely nothing to stop the torment. I moved away after that year and started going to school in a new -and frankly much better- district. My grandma kicked my mom and me out of her house and we moved into my stepdad's house in the town over. Everything happened so fast and I wasn't able to control anything in my life from that point so I controlled the only thing I could at that time, my food intake. I already had a few food struggles since I was younger but my 8th-grade year was probably the worst I've ever experienced. I got braces on so eating was incredibly painful I didn't eat anything at school for a few days and eventually without paying attention, I was only eating one peanut butter sandwich a day. I was losing weight quickly and I even broke my foot during that time which I attribute to my poor health decisions. I went to the doctors to get my foot checked up and when they measured me and weighed me I learned that I was 5'1 and 90 pounds. I was incredibly unhealthy and miserable. Running a short distance in gym class would nearly make me pass out, I was so tired every day and developed an addiction to energy drinks, having up to three of them a day. Fortunately, this story does turn around. I got myself a loving boyfriend who actually cared about me. Over the course of three years, he was able to love me so much that I decided to improve myself for him. I started trying to eat a little more and drink fewer energy drinks. Slowly I started actually feeling better so I continued my journey to recovery. Sure the road was anything but easy- heck I still sometimes find myself counting calories on bad days and avoiding certain foods- but I am healthier than ever. This story of struggle won't end for me just because the word count stops me from writing more. I now eat two meals a day to have better nutrition and a better exercise routine to maintain my health. I finally admitted to myself and a doctor that I am depressed and I now have medication that helps my mental health now. But, of course, my story isn't over life is jam-packed with struggles but my previous battles won have only made me stronger to face future challenges.

The song "dirty" by grandson inspires me most. The uncapitalized names are a choice by the artist and not just my writing being lazy by the way. I'm inspired by this song because of the lyrics and its instrumental sound being a little like rock and pop at the same time. The message of the song is best summed up with the chorus- "Do you have enough love in your heart to go and get your hands dirty?" This song is about going out in the world with your heart full of love and helping people with your hands and body not just with your words. Talking about issues is important but words don't feed the starving, plant trees in the forest, or build homes for the homeless. grandson's song points out the importance of actually doing something, getting your hands dirty, instead of just talking about problems or even worse, ignoring them completely.

Something that I learned about myself that I have found to be valuable is my common sense. You will never catch me saying that I'm the best student ever. Even when I study I forget some things but fortunately I have the power of common sense on my side. In seventh grade, I took an ecology test without studying but fortunately with some of my knowledge and common sense I was able to get a good score on the test! This test was for a Science Olympiad competition and my partner won second place in that division. Now, I don't say any of this as a brag, please don't think that I am. I find that the quote by Voltaire "common sense isn't very common," is actually true. Many times I've seen people around me throw their common sense out the window. The teacher will put on the whiteboard the daily assignment, where it has been every day for the entire year, and yet without fail, there will always be at least one classmate who has to ask, "What are we doing today?" So, something valuable about myself is my common sense.

We as humans have come a long way in the last one hundred years. From the early 1900s to now we have transitioned from horse-drawn carriages, getting water from wells in the backyard, and planting then harvesting crops by hand to fast cars, running water that can be heated, and mechanical farm equipment. It is crazy to think about how far the world has come in such a short time. Despite all of these amazing inventions, my favorite technology right now is virtual reality systems. The concept of strapping a screen to your head and entering different dimensions was once just an alien technology fantasy but today that fantasy is a reality. These devices allow you to go anywhere and meet with any stranger across the globe at any time, as long as you have wifi and electricity that is. Virtual reality headsets are sold in masses to consumers who have a love for video games. These games are amazing because they combine fun action gaming platforms and almost full-body movement for the user to enjoy. Not only games are used on this technology though. There are programs and apps on these devices used for educational and health purposes. Due to the versatility of virtual reality, there are studies looking into how this technology can help people to become more active. I read a study on one of my favorite games, Beat Saber, and how it was good for your cardiovascular health when played on a more difficult level so that you could move a lot more. The headsets can also be used to assist the user in relaxing. Meditation has been shown to decrease stress and help with high blood pressure and lessen the impact of anxiety disorders. There are even programs to teach users things. My Law & Justice class visited the sheriff's office for a tour not too long ago and my boyfriend noticed in that there was an Occulus- a brand of virtual reality headset- on the shelf. We asked about it, wondering why the sheriff's department played virtual reality games instead of working when the sheriff told us that they use a program on the headset to train the staff on how and when to properly use tasers. So, the bottom line the new virtual reality technology is useful and interesting. I believe this technology can be used to make the world a better place.

My favorite way to help others is through acts of service. I don't have a lot of money but I still want to leave people happier than they were before seeing me. I hold doors open for people, help them pick up dropped things, or just offer help in general. I don't like to see nice people struggle so if someone is standing, I will offer them my chair or offer to go get a chair for them. If someone wants salt or pepper for their food, I'll go up and get it for them. When someone comes in after 5 asking for a coffee, I'll turn the machines on and take the time to reclean everything even though I don't get paid for it. Basically, I just like to do simple things that help people whenever I can. Sometimes it's just one small thing to turn a person's day completely around, I just hope their day becomes or stays positive.

"It's better to keep your mouth shut and look stupid than open your mouth and prove it." That is the sentence I would share with the world. Why would I share that sentence? It's sort of mean, yes, but ignorant people tend to be really loud. Someone who thinks they know everything, you know someone really ignorant, would just shut their mouth for a moment maybe they would learn something instead of just believing their own misinformation. Despite ignorant people being intolerable to me, I think you could save yourself a lot of embarrassment if you just don't say something stupid. And by "you" I really mean me. I should take my own advice. That sentence is one of my favorites, I found it on a random post one day and it made me laugh- I realized it had truth to it as well. That saying is one of many cowboy advice pieces I think we could all benefit from.

I have a lot of things on my bucket list. The first thing on my bucket list is to complete high school and graduate with a diploma. I'm working towards this, I'm almost finished with my junior year. The second item on my bucket list is to begin college and eventually graduate with a degree in anything. Many colleges are amazing candidates for completing this item but choosing one is the difficult part right now. Someday I would like to travel to all of the fifty states for at least a week and pick up a snowglobe from each state. I want to see the diverse cultures of different states, towns, and cities and add to a collection back in my own home in North Dakota. Fourth on the list, I want to build my own home. I'm excited and intimidated by this goal on my bucket list because it is going to be really, really expensive but really nice, I hope. I have many other smaller random things on my bucket list like "Go camping" or "Visit the ocean" but I thought some of the bigger goals I have would be fun to share. Thank you for reading!

I want my legacy to be of a strong woman who, despite all of the setbacks in her life, persevered and made life better for herself and everyone around her. I want to have my own self-sustaining farm and ranch someday. I want to install geothermal heating and cooling systems, solar panels, and everything from a greenhouse, to chicken coops, livestock barns, and a quonset for tractors. With the money I save from buying less electricity from the solar panels and less costly temperature control, producing my own food, and farming, I would like to rescue animals. Taking in animals from shelters while living on a carbon neutral and self-sustained farm is really my dream. Being able to help animals and the environment and leave behind my legacy of kindness and caringness is the ultimate honor. If I ever have children I hope that they'll look up to me for inspiration.

I support equality and diversity by trying my best to be a positive figure in the eyes of everyone around me. While other students think it's funny to be racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic I have no issues clapping back at them immediately after their rude comment with a simple "that isn't funny" or "that doesn't mean it's bad." and when I say it in the previous sentence, I'm talking about whatever they made a rude comment about. My grandpa is Chippewa so I made it a point to bring a friend and my boyfriend to a powwow this summer. It was amazing, their prayers included all colors and religions despite how much racism Native Americans face daily. I enjoy seeing new people, and diverse faces. My best friend is transgender, my boyfriend is a Dutch South African, and I just love to support people who are outside the norm- people who are interesting and diverse. I consider myself to be an ally of the LGBTQ community even though I'm pansexual myself. I just want everyone to have support in their lives, no matter their color, shape, religion, or gender. Everyone who is a good person deserves good things, friends, family, happiness, and stability.

Education is important to me because learning new things, expanding your knowledge, and staying curious about the world around you is such a lovely and beautiful thing. Learning occurs every day whether or not you realize it. I come to school every day for the specific reason of becoming educated but outside of school, I learn new things all the time. At home in passing conversations with my family, I might learn tons of random things. For example, I learn a lot about farming and agriculture from talking to my dad and grandpa. From small things like how much the cost of anhydrous is or bigger things like how a combine works to harvest corn. At my job, working at the local coffee shop, I have sharpened my knowledge and skills in making drinks for people. I have learned so much from chatting with customers as well. I once helped a woman with woes taking care of her plants. I educated her on how to better care for her succulents during the winter just in passing conversation! Education works both ways, learning something- becoming curious about it, learning a little more about it, and even finding new topics to learn about. Since you learn new things with your own curiosity, you can help people with their curiosity. If they ask a question about it, you could answer it and win some social credit while you're at it too. Asking questions and specifically learning something new every day has proved to make you smarter and reduce mental problems in old age. Most people retain knowledge and memories from as young as an elementary school even in their 70s. My grandpa often tells me stories about his childhood, riding horses, picking vegetables, and eating frybread that his mother made for him and his many other siblings. With learning something new comes new skills you can use every day as well. You learn talents like baking, sewing, juggling, riding a bike, and so many other things. Teaching yourself how to pursue a talent that you're passionate about is the best kind of learning. Actually, having a passion for anything from a subject in school to raising plants is the best kind of learning because you take that knowledge to heart when you enjoy whatever it is that you do. So, to finish this essay off, education is important to me because it helps people stay curious, learn new and interesting things, and with everyone learning new things, it makes the world more interesting and diverse which is amazing.

I am planning on trying out to be North Dakota's Outstanding Teen which is a lower-level version of being a Miss North Dakota or any Miss State. I've never done anything like this before but even just trying to do this is more than I ever dreamed I would be able to do. For the competition, there are many steps including showcasing a talent for 90 seconds. I thought about this a lot, I tried to learn how to juggle a little while ago but failed. I was scared, and honestly still nervous now, about whether or not I could produce a talent- a true show-stopping and interesting talent- to present to the judges. One day while relaxing and watching some videos on my phone, I came across a clip of a beautiful woman figure skating. The lightbulb lit up in my head! I could do ice skating as my talent, I'm pretty okay at it after all. But the problem is though I can't ice skate indoors during summer so I will use rollerblades instead! I will practice my talent every day, training with and without skates on. I want to learn some kind of routine with beautiful spins and swoops galore. I'm so excited to begin mastering my rollerblading talent.

My love language just so happens to be acts of service. For the people I love- even the people I just tolerate- I show my appreciation to them by doing things for them. I help my mother out whenever I can by putting the dishes away, filling up the cats' water and food dishes, or sweeping the kitchen. Of course, she gets hugs too every day after school. I do things for my dad too, bigger things like taking driving classes to lower our insurance premiums and smaller things making lunch for him to take with him in the tractor or combine. My classmates, I help as well, sometimes I'll help a friend with homework or give them a snack from my lunch box. If someone says they need something, I have no problem getting up to go find it for them. and lastly, I do things for strangers too. I believe in karma and I wish to only have the best karma possible. I'll hold the door open for you no matter what or pull closer to the white line when I'm driving so that someone can pass me easier. I just want to help people and be remembered as a good person. That's my dream.

I actively listen to everyone around me by paying full attention to what they're saying. For my teachers I listen with my ears, my hands take notes or I fiddle with something so that my brain can focus on what they're saying. I listen to my mom and dad when they tell me something because I love them and I don't particularly enjoy getting into trouble for forgetting to do something. (Those pesky dishes really never end!) I often share my ideas and dreams with my boyfriend, he listens and responds to me, encouraging me or pointing out errors in my plans. In return, I listen to him talk about his car's mechanical problems, and even though I don't always fully understand, I listen and offer advice when I can. Listening to me means that I'm hearing and understanding what someone is saying. I take the time and effort to attempt to learn something from our conversation.

An impact I hope to leave on the world is teaching people to care more. I want to leave this impact by living my life true to my impact's message. I want to build my own home with clean energy because I care about the environment. I will install geothermal heating and cooling so that I don't have to burn propane to keep my home warm in the winter or use excessive energy to cool my home in the summer. I'd like to install solar panels on the roof to not use as much power from companies that burn fossil fuels to power generators. I will use my house and the land around it to rescue, house, and care for animals. Horses, dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, I want to help them all live out the rest of their days in comfort. I would love to open my heart and my home to foster children someday, just like my grandpa did for his three foster sons many years ago. I just want to leave a positive and loving impact on the world. With so much bad going on in the world I feel like it's right of me to try to put a little of it back together.

A turnaround story from my life that I'm proud of just so happens to be my math grades. In elementary, I struggled with paying attention, focusing on my work, and just learning in general. My most challenging subject was math, my grades were so low that I had to be sent up to a different room to get extra help with the work. Unfortunately, the teacher didn't like to help me. That's no joke or diverting blame either, she truly would ignore my questions and only help one or two other students. Needless to say, my grades did not improve and nor did my self-esteem. I moved on to middle school and still struggled, proudly pulling a D- for my yearly grade if I remember correctly. I moved schools after that year and for the first time in my 8th grade year, I started trying harder. I started learning the material. I still struggle a lot though, don't get me wrong. I consistently get scores between B's and C's now in my classes even with help from the teacher and my supportive boyfriend. I'm happy to announce that I turned around, maybe it wasn't a 180-degree turn (more of a 140 degree turn honestly) but I'm proud I was even able to turn at all. I'm happy I was able to go from an angry middle schooler who failed math and never tried to a high schooler who tries her best even if not always successful.

One investing tip that I have taken to heart is to diversify your investments! I'm a junior in high school, I just finished Dave Ramsey's financial literacy class last semester with my FACS teacher. I learned many good tips for investing, our class even competed in the stock market game (with 11th place out of 141 teams as of the time of writing this). I think the best words of advice I learned this year about investing is to diversify your investments, you might be able to pull more income overall this way and avoid losing all of your money if something bad happens to a single stock. I think it's also important to have a range of things to invest in. Of course, you should always invest in companies that you believe in but try to invest in single stocks as well as bonds. My second piece of advice that I've taken to heart is to start early. Time and compound interest are your best friends. The earlier you get your money in the market, the more time it has to grow. By the time you're ready to retire maybe, you'll have 60 years of growing money to enjoy. So two (since I couldn't just pick one) pieces of investing advice that I've taken to heart are to diversify my investments and to start early.

I keep a growth mindset every day by staying positive. Keeping a positive perspective on life is really beneficial to keep a growth mindset. When a setback occurs it is really important to keep your head held high and say, "even though this is difficult, practice makes perfect. I can do this!" Instead of being hindering my growth mindset with negativity, self-doubt, and fear, I try my best to keep my head clear and work on a problem one step at a time. Baby steps turn into leaps and bounds later in life. It's important to never give up, stay persistent, and keep growing and learning as a person. Some days though it's okay to take a break from always growing, take a rest so that you can keep on movin' and groovin' the next day or day after that. It's all about progress, making sure that progress is positive overall. Keep learning and improving, do what you love. Keep growing!

I apply creativity in my everyday life. I am creative in art class, using pencils, chalk pastels, paints, and other materials to create art on paper or hanging mobiles. I'm creative in my other classes too, don't you worry! In my history class, I chose to do a presentation about the 1950's era Beatniks and the Beat Movement. I chose a flower theme, despite the people of the generation maybe not being so akin to flowers, and I added animations to every single slide. Every single paragraph, title, or photo on every slide has an animation added to it- to keep the presentation more interesting. While I guess you could say I try really hard in art and history class, I might zone out from time to time in my other classes. Algebra II is one of my least favorites classes of all, my grade in it is lacking sometimes but my boyfriend usually helps me with what I don't know. I'm usually found in the back of the class doodling in my notebook between writing notes. My notes are highlighted according to the topic and separated with various borders. In the blank spaces, you'll find little drawings of anything from trees to fish to mountains. In short, I like to believe that I stay creative in my everyday life.

If I suddenly got $1,000 I would first celebrate- jump up and down, yell a little bit, call my mom and dad to tell them the good news. I would tell my boyfriend and celebrate with him as well because that's a lot of money. I'm working three jobs and that's more than I would make in a week! Since I'm saving up to afford college with no students loans and I'm saving up to build my very own victorian style brick ranch house, I would do the responsible thing and put it into my savings account at the credit union that I bank with. I would have nearly $2,000 in my savings account with the additional $1,000. At the end of the month, I would add in all my tips and my paychecks and hopefully have closer to $2,500. When my boyfriend turns 18 in August, we would take a trip up to a big city and visit a good stockbroker and invest in some bonds. I would invest in as many things as I could to make passive income. If I was blessed with $1,000 I would try to take the money and increase it with bonds, stocks, and savings account interest, so that I may use it towards my future.

Giving is important to me. I know that everyone is facing some kind of struggle in their lives right now and instead of adding to that burden, I would like to help with it. Most of the things I own now were given to me, my clothes, my phone, my car, everything! I refuse to take and take from the people around me. I want to give things I don't need to people who might need them more. I want to help as many people as I can in my life and give away some things like food, extra clothes, old toys, and whatever else I can seem like a decent way to give back. If I don't have money to buy things for people I will give my time and energy to them, for a better cause. I currently volunteer at 4H, helping at the fair or cleaning the park, or anything else I can do. This coming summer I am going to adopt a highway. I will clean the garbage off the sides of 3 miles of road every month just to give back to the environment that tries to be so beautiful for me and passersby.

I have so many goals for my future. So many! My most recent goal, one I have for just this month, is to get my cute little macaron baking business off the ground. I want to bake and sell these little cookies and sell them to town people under the name "Seil's Sweets." My next goal for this year would be graduating 11th grade will good grades and beginning my senior year. I want to start looking into which college I want to go to and what I want to major in. After high school, I want to start my college education of course. I want to complete college with good grades and a shiny degree and zero student loan debt! With my college degree in hand, I want to start my dream job- whatever it may be. I want to save money to build my dream house. A victorian style brick mansion in the country where I can build my ranch and my family. I want to live well- using clean energy, growing my food, for the most part, having a loving family, and rescuing and helping as many people and animals as I can. My biggest goal, overall, is to be happy and help as many living creatures as I can.

I think the best way to live a long and healthy life is to practice healthy habits every day. Some good daily healthy habits you can practice are, getting enough sleep every night, eating a balanced and healthy meal at least twice a day, taking prescription medicines and avoiding smoking or drinking, exercising for at least sixty minutes a day, and standing for at least one minute of every hour. People need six to nine hours of sleep every night. Everyone needs to eat a balanced diet, more nutrients, and less sugar and unhealthy fats. If you need medicine for your illnesses of any kind, you should take your medicines as the label describes! Staying active for at least an hour a day and standing every hour improves your circulation, helps you stay at a healthy weight, and allows you to gain muscle mass and stay flexible. If you practice healthy habits every day you will be able to live a long life. If you do stay healthy, you will be able to accomplish more in your older age as well. Keeping your flexibility is important to put your shoes on when you're older, keeping your muscle mass is important to keep doing everything you love in your elder years as well.

Friendship to me, means that you’ve created a bond with someone so strong that you’d do just about anything for that person. Sure, some friends are really mean to each other for fun but I’m not really a violent person like that. I much prefer my friendships to be “I’ll help you if you help me” type. I don’t have many friends, I simply don’t get along with many people because of different points of view or whatever else. The friends I do have though, I love them fiercely. I would do anything for them with the assumption that they would never do anything bad for me. Just today my friend mentioned how he didn’t have an energy drink to enjoy today and he would get caffeine withdrawals. I gave him an energy drink I kept in my lunch box in hopes that he wouldn’t have to go through the withdrawals. My entire friend group only has that one flaw, being caffeine addicts. But I love my friends no matter what.

1. Why do you deserve this scholarship? I deserve this scholarship because it will help me pay for my cat's expensive taste in cat food and toys. 2. What are your academic and/or career goals? My academic goals are to glide through school without ever needing to pay attention. My career goals are to be an expert fish deportation officer. You know, to arrest the lionfish. (Ba dun tss!) 3. Tell me about a time you’ve overcome an obstacle. I've overcome many obstacles in my life, my own house has several of them leading up to the porch.

I have stayed optimistic through tough times a lot in my life. I find without optimism, there is no point in getting up. Being gloomy and saying "why even bother?" to myself all the time has zero productivity! "If you don't do anything crazy now, you'll have nothing to smile about when you're old," is a quote that drives me to stay optimistic no matter how hard my life may get. With the recent global pandemic, high school stress, staying on top of my work life, school life, and personal life seem almost impossible. Everything seems a million times more impossible when you have a bad mindset. Though a million other students are applying for scholarships, I still try my best to apply for them because that tiny sliver of optimism in me isn't scared of failing but rather more scared of not even trying. Staying optimistic through tough times has taught me to be grateful, stay humble, and always try my best.

My favorite scientific discovery is penicillin. I think Alexander Flemming, the Scottish physician who left a petri dish of mold out and discovered that the mold was being killed by penicillin. In 1929 Flemming published his findings in a journal. Flemming found it difficult to effectively produce penicillin but in 1940, two other scientists took interest in Flemming's discovery. Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, the two curious scientists, experimented with this antibiotic and found a way to mass-produce it. The two were able to mass-produce penicillin just in time for World War II. Because of this amazing discovery, the world can better treat many things like pneumonia, scarlet fever, and ear, skin, gum, mouth, and throat infections. Many lives have been saved just because one man left out a petri dish of mold and another two men figured out how to industrialize the process of leaving out mold-filled petri dishes.

I have often thought about what my dream life will look like. My dream life is going to be very expensive, I want to build my own victorian style brick home- I think they're stunning, with solar panels and geothermal energy. I want to build a large attached greenhouse to my home as well to grow my own food throughout the winter. I want to have a ranch with chickens for eggs, cows for milk and meat, alpacas for wool, and many other pets for companionship. Some pets I dream of rescuing are dogs, cats, birds like parrots, and maybe even rabbits. I would like a fish tank or two as well so that my cats have something to watch when I'm away. My dream life revolves around my dream to help animals and people. I would like to foster children and sponsor immigrants to pay it forward since my boyfriend now is an immigrant himself and I was adopted by my stepfather two years ago. My dream life will be hard to achieve but I am not afraid of challenges. It will be worth it in the end.

One of my favorite hobbies is painting. I have many other hobbies that I enjoy such as baking for tasty treats or knitting for the easy repetitive movement but the hobby that I most enjoy would have to be painting. I started with acrylic painting, taking a piece of cardboard, looking at a lovely Bob Ross painting, and trying to recreate it. Since I have begun taking an art class for my junior year, I've learned many more techniques and ideas for creating more beautiful and detailed works. I've used watercolor to create a lion picture a few years ago, it looked okay for being my first time using watercolor and also painting on plain printer paper but it was lacking in many areas. Despite my printer paper watercolor lion looking less than prideful, mark the lion pun please, my boyfriend still kept it and hung it up in my room. Now, the most recent project in art class was a watercolor metamorphosis picture. Of course, I wanted to take another stab at the lion picture I previously tried. My metamorphosis picture was a peaceful lion sitting in front of a dark mountain with a fire roaring from his mane. I used several new techniques for this painting, I used a more careful and decisive hand with my detailing. I used different brushes this time around instead of just one brush like the first time. I like to believe that this watercolor painting turned out much better than my first attempt, I plan to sell it in April at our local art show just to see how much my improved skill might be worth to others. My biggest project by far in my artistic hobby is painting flowers on a bison skull. I've been working on this project for two years now and since I pick it up and put it down so often my skill level tends to change between the breaks so I have to redo some flowers here and there. Along with painting on the skull, I have been creating air-dry clay flowers to add to the horns. In short, I enjoy art because of the freedom of expression and challenges it provides that keep me engaged with it.

First off, I will tell you a little about who I am and why I wish to pursue a college education. I am Hannah Seil, 17 years old high school junior from Fessenden North Dakota. I'm a little eccentric, my purplish red hair and piercings could tell you that from any distance but I think at heart, I'm a generally decent person. Besides all that, I wish to pursue a college education to get a high paying job in the future as well as to say "I did it, I did what many people won't or can't do," and for that, I think it should be a proud moment in my history on this planet. I would like to write about the first question "What do Art and STEM mean to me and why?" for this scholarship. Art, to me, is the most beautiful and basic form of self-expression. Art finds its way into every aspect of life- everything from beautifully organizing wires on a robot, making a swan on a latte's foam, and of course more commonly known forms of art like painting, drawing, sculpting, and just creating in general. I am taking- and positively enjoying- an art class right now in my junior year of high school. My art class has challenged me with different mediums such as graphite, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic painting, and creating mobiles. This class has taught me the important basics of art as well as how being artistic can cause you to view things differently, from different perspectives. STEM, most particularly robotics since that is the most interaction with science that I get in my small school, has a lot of similarities to art. The two are surprisingly very intertwined with each other. In robotics, FIRST Tech Challenge which I and my team participate in annually, we have to design a robot, find materials, assemble the robot, code it, learn to control the robot, and use teamwork all along the way. STEM involves more math, physics, and science in a practical sense than art usually does; and by that, I mean knowing the speed of a servo may require more than just a ruler and a pencil while art would only really require the ruler and the pencil. STEM has many different fields of study as well, its name is an acronym describing the fields- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics- which is similar to all the many different forms of art there are that I previously mentioned. Art and STEM often require thinking outside the box, for example, "how am I going to mix colors to make this painted tree look real?" is similar to "what materials can I use to make a sturdy frame for this robot?" If you're drawing something by memory you have to have a general idea of what it looks like, similarly if you're building something for a robot you generally have an idea of what could work for a certain task. To answer the overarching question from the beginning, Art and STEM to me, are activities as well as a way of thinking and perceiving the world around you. Both art and STEM are very important to me, I enjoy both of them in their unique and similar ways in my daily school life.

My goal in education is to achieve good grades and persevere through the challenges of education to finish high school and begin college. I plan to achieve my goal in education of getting good grades by studying for tests and quizzes, listening to my teachers' lessons and taking notes with pencil and highlighters to keep track of the subject material, and doing my homework. I try my best to turn my homework in on time and I often try to recheck and correct my work to obtain the highest grades that I can. Whenever the opportunity arises, I attempt to do bonus work no matter what the subject is so that I have a failsafe for when my grades aren't as good as I would generally like them to be. My goal in life ultimately is to help people and animals. I want to help people by giving shelter to people in need, I hope someday to sponsor an immigrant and their family with my boyfriend to pay it forward since my boyfriend is an immigrant himself. I want to build a big house with sustainable features such as solar panels and geothermal energy so that I can save money in the future to afford medical bills and veterinary bills for my pets and children. I hope to adopt all of my pets, rescuing them from shelters or homes that simply can't keep up with their needs any longer. I would like to foster some children as well someday, I took inspiration from my papa who is the kindest man I ever will know- when he told me that he has three foster sons out in the world somewhere. I want to help as many people as I can, from small things such as giving them a cup of coffee to bigger things such as housing them during a hard time or providing love and support to people who need it the most. To finish this essay off I would like to say that my goals in my education and life are very good-natured I believe. Helping people and animals is the most fulfilling thing I think anyone could ever do and I think it would be an honor to be able to do these good things with my life. All I want to do with my short time on this Earth is to help people who are down and help animals that have been wronged. I know how it feels to be unloved or down on yourself and I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone or anything so I want to make it my life mission to help reverse or avoid those feelings in others.

One way I try my very best to have a positive impact on the world is by only putting positive things out in the world. I achieve this in every aspect of my life from my job as a barista, janitor, car cleaning, being a high school student, and just being myself- without a label. In my barista job, I always make sure to make the customer happy. If we close at 5 and someone walks in at 5:02 I will still make them a drink to make sure that their day is hopefully just slightly better even though it's another 10 minutes or more of me cleaning the machines and tools and sanitizing everything once again. I try my best to positively impact my customers who ask me to clean their cars by going the extra mile to ensure a smell or mess is completely removed and the vehicle is sprayed with automotive Frebreeze. Even in my personal life, I try my best to be nice to the people and animals around me. I often come home, bring my cat to my room, and turn on her heated blanket so that she can have a comfy nap as I'm doing my evening routine. I make sure to put my and my parents' dishes away, restock the fridge with drinks when needed, and help my mother make food and clean if she needs help. in short, I try hard to have a positive impact on this world because I know how terrible it can be to be in a negative place in this world.

I completed a personal finance class last semester for my high school junior year. I learned many important lessons in that class that I still use today. I learned the importance of budgeting your expenses and balancing out how much you earn with how much you'll be spending and saving every month. I learned Dave Ramsey's Five Foundations and my favorite one, or at least the one that I think is most important, is to stay away from debt. I refuse to apply or take out student loans to pay for college because they accumulate so much interest which causes you to go even further into debt. People are putting off starting families, buying houses, being happy in general because they have so much debt looming over their heads constantly. I don't want that for myself so I will save my money now, work jobs now and throughout college, apply for scholarships and grants, and do whatever else I can to stay out of debt. I dislike debt so much that I will only ever use a debit card or cash to purchase things I want. "Stay away from debt," is the most important personal finance lesson to me.

One experience that has shaped a part of who I am today is meeting the love of my life. I met my boyfriend three years ago when I was just 13. He came from South Africa to a small town in no-where-North-Dakota. We met in Agriculture Education class and spent the first year bonding over robotics practices. If that sounds nerdy, that's because it is. My boyfriend is the smartest high schooler I know, he helps me with everything from Algebra II to working at our very own small business, Country Clean, where we clean and detail cars, furniture, and carpets for the people of our small town. We've done a lot together and we are planning a lot more to do in the future. So, in short, one experience that has shaped a part of who I am today is meeting my wonderful boyfriend three years ago. He's helped me grow as a person and for that, I am forever grateful.

One practical solution for helping more people who struggle with mental health is providing resources that teach people how to handle stressful situations. Many situations that cause a decline in mental health stem from a stressful situation that triggers the spiral down. It can be hard to stop the spiral and return to normalcy so I think the most important and practical resource is giving people the ability to help themselves. I believe that if more people knew how to help themselves they won't feel as hopeless and they'll be able to get themselves out of that dark place. To help people I think we should teach in schools how to help ourselves- how to take a step back from the emotional thoughts and think logically. The first step in recovery is to admit that there is a problem, when you step back and say, "These thoughts and actions aren't helpful or good for me," then we can begin working towards a solution. We as people should write more articles and talk more about how it is okay to feel sad, how it's okay to feel bad emotions for as long as we need to process them as long as we don't get comfortable in that bad place; as long as we know we have to heal eventually and keep trying. So, in conclusion, I think the most practical solution to help the general population with mental help is to make sure everyone knows that it's okay to feel things, it's normal to have emotions good and bad. however, it's not okay to stay in a bad place no matter how hard life gets.

Something that I'm passionate about is helping people and animals. Someday I hope to be a doctor of veterinary medicine to help animals. I want to help and be kind to people, giving them things they need if they're in need. I'm not very religious but when the Bible preaches about "love thy neighbor" I tend to listen. I believe life is too short to be a bad person, it's much easier to help someone up than push them down. I try to do one good deed a day to give myself some good karma and to help someone else out. I leave quarters on the lip of a vending machine or take care to clean up my mess at the lunch room. Someday I plan to build a ranch which I will share with rescue animals who need homes. It doesn't sound like much, and I know it's not a lot, but I'm passionate about putting in the effort to help people or animals. No matter how big or small my task I just hope it helps someone.

My favorite piece of art is the Veiled Virgin marble bust statue created by Giovanni Strazza. The Veiled Virgin depicts the Virgin Mary with a veil covering her face. You're able to see her with a translucent veil over her face in this artwork. This piece is amazing, truly beautiful. When I look at this statue it really does look like the woman, the Virgin Mary, is covered with a thin cloth when in fact the statue is made of 100% marble. Its amazing how a person can take a rock and create a perfect depiction of Mary with a veil over her face, seeing all of the details into the meticulous work to make the veil look translucent over her face is really amazing to me. I was introduced to this art piece in a history class one day and since then it's been my favorite work to show acquaintance to open up a conversation about art.

Something that I love about myself is how capable I am to do many things. I love how versatile my skills are and how my body allows me to do the things I do. I am very grateful and blessed to have all ten fingers and ten toes and no major issues with my body. I love the little things that I'm capable of doing such as typing on my computer, reading the words and understanding them, enjoying a video game or a movie, and more. I love the bigger tasks I'm able to accomplish like being able to control a vehicle to drive to school every morning and then drive back home every night, I love being able to multitask like when I'm doing homework, keeping track of the work I'm doing as well as listening to music and scratching my lovely cat, Misty. I love my body and I love challenging myself to see what I can and can't do. I've done an aerial adventure course which required a lot of strength and determination to climb up the ropes, around obstacles, walk on thin planks, and then face a fear of heights to jump off a platform and zip-line to the next one! I tried to compete in cross country as well, while I was never first or even close to it, I was so proud of myself and my body for being able to finish the races even though it was extremely difficult. I love myself for the small details I can make such as creating artworks with pencil and paint. To finish out this essay, I would like to say, that despite my shortcomings I love myself for all of the things that I can do.

If I was a highly influential figure the main thing I would stand for would be helping disadvantaged people. I would use my influence to raise money for victims of poverty, starvation, and who ever else might be struggling in their life. I would try to show people how the world is mistreating underdeveloped countries- such as Nestle who is taking water from people who live in desert like climates and selling it to developed nations who don't need the water so desperately. I would use my influence and popularity to work in cosmetics or some other high paying job and donate as much as I could to as many charities as I could. As a personal choice I would also only support businesses with ethical practices, like chocolate made from beans harvested by paid workers or clothes that weren't made with slave labor. Of course, I would encourage my audience to do the same, promote good companies with fair trade practices and point out all the flaws and abuse other terrible companies have. So, in short, if I was a highly influential figure I would stand for righteousness and against unnecessary suffering caused to people by other people.

Some things that I do to make my family feel loved is doing my chores without being asked. I help my mother cook supper and I load and unload the dishwasher for her. I help my dad whenever he needs to read small print or needs any technology help at all. I help my aunt by watching my cousins for her so she can relax. I let my friends know they're loved by giving them small gifts, I work at the local coffee shop so I often invite my friends over to have coffee and visit when it's slow. I love my family and friends very much, gift giving is my love language but since I don't have a lot of money, I save up coupons to buy things my friends and family might like. I like to give my boyfriend money, just a little bit here and there, to help him afford his hobbies of working on cars. So, for the most part, I try my best to make my friends, family, and other people in my life feel loved by taking care of them the best that I can.