Hello my name is Jalen Turner, and I am attempting Arizona Christian University in the Fall. Being a first generation college student influence me to never give up on my goals. All I have ever wanted to be was either a Police Officer or a Lawyer, and me pursuing a degree in criminal justice will help me with that. My mother and father has never went to college before, my father has always been in jail all my life so I never had a father figure to tell me what I should be or what they want me to be. As I am pursing my degree in criminal justice it is helping me realize that there will be a lot of doors that will open for me and that will close. With me being the first it’s showing me that a door is open and that I have the highest possibility to achieve my career goals even if I do have other individuals that is trying to unmotivate me. It is helping me realize to not give up no matter what anyone says to me, if I don’t give up then I can achieve my goals, no matter what they are and how difficult it is to get there; I can achieve it.

Hello, my name is Jalen Turner, I am an undergraduate student at Grand Canyon University studying criminal justice with two minors in psychology and behavioral science, and I have one incarcerated family member which is my dad. My education goal is to graduate college to earn my degree. I have experienced multiple obstacles one of my obstacles is paying off my tuition. I do not have help from my family members so it is all up to me to pay off the rest of my tuition, and that is something I own up to I chose to go off to college to pursue my education, I knew that there was gonna be a lot of struggles and that I would have to balance a lot of extra activities so I can focus on my school work, I knew that and the only way to overcome is it not giving up on myself. Then one of my other obstacles is wanting to give up and drop out, this was my first year without my family, and spending Thanksgiving without them that was hard, I went with a friend to their grandparent house but it was still hard because this was my first year without my family, and not being able to see them was the hardest for me. I wanted to give up multiple times when I first came to Grand Canyon University every was for it because they wanted me to get away from Kankakee where I am from, but after everyone told me they want me to come back and told me they would not be able to help me if I return in the spring and that was kinda hard because all of the stuff I had bought was sold, and my car was sold, and I did not get any of it to help with my tuition here at the school. If I would have allowed it to it would have affected my progress because when my family basically turned their back on me and told me they were not going to help me with my tuition anymore if I decided to stay it made me wanna give up because I felt that they had turned their back on me, and since my dad is incarcerated he can not help me. Then I started to consider it because even though I am happy here at GCU without my mother's support then I will not be able to continue out here then I thought about it if they do not want to help me then okay find I will not allow that to mess with my happiness, and allow it to bring me down. I will continue to work my butte off here at GCU so I can return and graduate early, or on time. But I will not give up; that is what my obstacles is and how they are affecting me and how I am overcoming them.

Hello, my name is Jalen Turner, how education and legal systems help influence my beliefs. They influenced my beliefs because there are multiple scenarios and multiple points of view that the education system tells you and the legal system will tell you but you always have to experience it yourself because being told it is not like experiencing it. We learn so much when it comes to education, and I am currently an undergrad student at Grand Canyon University, studying criminal justice with two minors in psychology, and behavioral science, so with those studies, it is more about you experiencing it because even when they try to teach you and inform it to you for your career aspirations you wouldn't really know how it actually is you in the real working because you are hearing it from their point of view not your own. It would make you want to really pursue that career because you want to be able to experience what they experience, and do what they have done. The way I am working on addressing important social issues is that I am studying criminal justice to become a police officer, one of the most important situations that are going on right now is that some of the community members do not trust police officers, and are scared of them. We can not have that because our police officers are supposed to be the ones that keep the peace, but how the media is portraying them is that they are only focusing on the bad situations not showing any of the good. The media only shows the bad stuff that is going on with police officers which is making the different communities scared, and that is a major social issue, and one of the ways I am working on addressing it is by becoming a police officer so I can show the community that cops can be trusted. I am not saying that there are not bad cops out there but there are more great cops who will always serve and protect and that is one of the major social issues that the community does not trust the peacekeepers. It is up to the new generation of officers to show that they can be trusted and that no one has to be scared, and that is what my goal is, and why I am studying criminal justice. I have overcome hardships in my life, I have multiple hardships. One of the hardest situations for me is that I wanted to commit suicide because I was made fun of in school, and I just did not have any motivation, I thought I was alone and did not have any friends, and all I wanted to do was end my life I thought that was the answer, but then I started to pray and when God closes a door, he opens one right back up for you, and then he showed me one thing I always loved doing which was volunteering and just helping other people. Then that's what made me want to get into the legal system because one person that everyone is supposed to trust is a police officer; I wanted to become the one that everyone could come to but with what everything that has been going on in the past couple years that trust has become broken, but I wanna help to rebuild that trust as much as possible and that is why I am pursuing the education of criminal Justice so I can become a police officer to help regain the trust that was lost.

There are many people who have struggled with mental health, and I am a part of those many. Being a person who struggled with mental health, anxiety, etc. I can tell you it is not easy to cope with. They’re so many teens, kids, and adults that suffer from it, that are scared to speak to someone because they do not want anyone to look at them differently so they keep it in and they shouldn’t. There are multiple ways you can help people with mental health; one way you can help them is by reaching out. Let them know you know how they feel and to communicate with them. You wanna gain their trust, and let them know that you are there to communicate and to listen. To build trust and a relationship with the person suffering from mental health. So many people are still struggling with mental health today. Everyone should show them that they are not the only ones going through it, that they have people that may not be going through the same situation but that understand. I personally thought I was alone, that no one understood the situation and the thoughts I was going through because I personally felt alone, and just ready to end it all. But going to therapy and meeting the therapist I knew that there was actually more to it than what I had thought. Then not only that being in a group with more people that were going through the same thing, not the same situation but the same mindset. It helped me feel not so alone and helped me realize that there are actually people with mental health issues; people I can connect to and help with their situation. There are always ways to help with Mental Health.

What I do locally in my community is that I clean up my community, or host some kind of event to make my community positive. Just living in the community is not always everything, for your community to have a positive change you have to be active. What I do locally to affect positive change in my community is that I clean it up. For example, today I was currently with my Youth Advisory Council ( YAC) in Kankakee county, and we had gone to the area where we have a farmer's market on Saturdays; and we had picked up cigarettes buts, pop cans, liquor bottles, cigarettes boxes, wrappers, papers, and a lot of plastic. When you go out to clean your community you always find the one thing that just shouldn't even be in the streets, is open pads. I was very shocked when I noticed it and picked it up because I never would have known someone would just throw their pads anywhere outside knowing it hurts the environment and the animals. We as a group were able to make that change, we were not getting paid, and were not expecting anything in return. We were during that because we care for our community, environment, and our animals. Volunteering to clean up the community is how you can locally cause a change in your community. You might not always get a "Thank You" from the community members but you are getting a thank you from the environment and the Earth itself. You can't hear it but they are telling you to thank you. If you wouldn't clean up the environment they would be dying and that would not be a positive change for the community. So it's always good to clean up your community for a positive community.

My name is Jalen Turner, I am currently a Senior at Momence High School. I just wanted to tell you a little about myself, and I hope you like and enjoy what I tell you today. I have lived in Momence for half of my life; I enjoyed living here until I entered 6th grade. That was the most difficult year of my life. My 6th-grade year at Momence Junior High was very difficult for me because during this stage of my life I was depressed and was struggling between life and death. That means I wanted to and tried to commit suicide when I was in the 6th grade. I felt like I was alone back then. I had no one that cared for me, but some people proved me wrong. I have grown a lot since then because I attended therapy and saw so many people that were in the same shoes that I was in. Right there and then I realized I wanted to help people and make sure that they have the things they need and that they would never think that they are alone. I wanted them to know that there are people that care and would love to help so; in my 8th- grade year I held a Mobile Food Pantry. I’m not really a people person but I love to help people that need it. I guess you could say that I was raised right by my Mother. My mom's name is I’Tanzia Hawkins, I have a little brother whose name is Caiden Smith, and I also have a big sister named Ashia. They are the most important people in my life even though they get on my nerves. I do have a father but he is currently incarcerated. He’s been in jail for most of my life. I have siblings on his side of the family but I don’t really get to see them because he’s always in jail. When he was first incarcerated my mom told me “he’s in a faraway place” I never knew what she meant by it so it was always confusing. Every time someone would ask about him I would tell them that and they would say that they are sorry. I’m guessing that they thought he was either dead or living far away. As I approach the end of my Senior Year of High School, I look forward to attending Grand Canyon University in Arizona to study the Criminal Justice field. I hope you enjoyed learning a little about me.

Someone I admire from history is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Everyone admires him because of his " I have a dream speech", I admire him because of how he stood up toward segregation, how he started a march to the Capital of Montgomery, Alabama. How he went all over different towns and cities giving speeches about his dream and what he wished for the country. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went out of his way to help communities, for example, is when he got arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting the treatment of African Americans. He was telling everyone how he saw that we all are equal, how we can stop racism. Back then segregation was a big thing, they treated black people like they were disgusting, and that they didn't belong. For Example, they had white water fountains and black water fountains, Black kids weren't allowed to play with the white kids. On the buses black people had to sit in the back, and if they tried sitting in the front they would've been arrested. That is why he tried to stop Racism. Racism is still big today in certain areas but thanks to Dr. King and everyone that stood up against it we were able to at least stop segregation. Now everyone realizes even more that we are one people and that theirs not really anything different between any of us. That is the reason why one of the people I admire in history is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

There are many problems facing the world right now, as gas prices going up higher than they ever have before. Everywhere in the United States gas prices are skyrocketing up, and theirs honestly no way we can stop it because the only reason why it's going up is because of the war between Ukraine and Russia. The way the United States is responding without going to war is that we will not buy oil from Russia, and then their profits will go decrease. That is how we are responding. I don't really know a way that we can work on stopping the gas prices from skyrocketing. But I would probably say like try to conserve the gas as much as you can, to try and fill as many cartons of gas as possible, then conserving it for a rainy day so that you will only have to go to the gas station unless you really need to for gas. That sounds unrealistic but I think if we can work together then we can face the problem head-on and work out the problem. The next problem we face is Racism and nonequality; the way we can face that is to show everyone that we are all equal no matter what color you are we are the same. That God created us to look different but to show that we all can come together no matter what the situation is. To show everyone we are all equal and that there may be people that do bad things but they are still people, and that no matter what our skin color is, what we believe in we are all equal in so many ways. Come together and show that it's not how it is back in the 90s that we are all equal.

You are asking " Why do you love dogs?", I love them because they are basically human beings. With myself and my family, we have a dog named "Chance", he is 10 years old. When we first adopted him; you see how I said adopted and not bought. I say that because you don't buy a dog you adopt them. Typically, you choose the dogs that you think are pretty or would be well with your children, but it was different for me because he chose us. My mother wanted another dog not him but the sellers had adopted the dog to another family, and then out of nowhere he comes running out of the back jumping on all of us, none stop. He didn't go to another family he came to us, he chose us, and right there we realized that he was the one and we adopted him and that's when everything started to change and our family was a lot happier and more positive. Dogs are basically a man and female best friend, you don't even consider them as pets you consider them as part of your family and human. Chance impacted my life the most when I was going through my depression, anxiety, and suicide stage. That part of my life was the hardest, I ever had to face. My reliever was Chance, he was always by my side, I always have gotten love from him. When I would come home from therapy, I would feel so sad and so tired of everything; I just wanted to go into my room close the door and drown in my sorrow. But Chance never ever let me do that, he was always right under me, or on me. He would always try to make me pet him and just be with him playing with him petting him. That honestly helped me get through the stage, he made me feel loved and appreciated. So why do I love dogs? I love dogs because at the end of the day they will always be the ones by your side and that will never give up on you. Even if you are upset or just worried, they will know and they will comfort you and love you in any way. They will show you endless love and endless attention, and that's something you should never pass up. That's why I love dogs and how they impact my life in a positive way. But they don't just impact us we impact them on so many levels.

Giving to me is so important because it lets people know that they matter. I did community service work that involved me giving items to my community to the people that was in need. I didn't have to I chose to, I had spent weeks gathering the items from my community and from my school. The supplies we had collected were Toiletry Items, we collected those items so we could give them to the citizens that need them but can't afford them. Selling and Giving are two different situations because selling is that your receiving money for it and Giving is giving away without pay, without a secret agenda. If you let the community know that they matter and that you will try to help them in any way possible it makes them smile. What I do to give back is community work, honestly, anything I can I will do if it gives back to the community rather it's giving away free items to everyone, or cleaning up the community streets so that everyone would want to be in the community again. Does not matter for me as long if I'm giving back, I know that I'm helping.

My name is Jalen Turner, and I attend Momence Community High School, and I live in Kankakee, IL. What I will be telling you about is the quality or characteristic that I value the most in myself. The most valuable characteristic or quality I value the most in myself is empathy. I would say that is my most valuable characteristic because the definition of empathy is " The ability to understand and share the feelings of another." I say that is my most value able characteristic because when someone is going through a situation, or just wanna talk to me in general I stop whatever I am doing and listen, and give my opinion on the situation. They don't really have to be going through situations, if they wanna talk I will listen. That's one of the best qualities to have so that no one thinks that they are alone and that they have someone they can talk to for whatever reason. This characteristic would help me in life because everyone knows the saying " Treat everyone how you would like to be treated", and that basically a part of what empathy is because if you be selfless and let anyone come to you, to talk to you about what's going on no matter what they're problem is then when I need someone they would be there to help me and talk to me. They would see that I see what they are going through and that you understand. With me wanting to become a police officer, or a lawyer whatever career path I take you would need to have empathy. I say that because a police officer has to listen either when they are investigating a situation, or when one of their colleagues comes to you that needs someone to communicate with because they have too much stress, or just going through a hard time. Then with the community, if you are being called about distress and a wife is having trouble with their husband, or the husband is having trouble with their wife, it is your job to listen and show them that you understand what is going on. Your not just becoming a police officer to protect and serve your community you are also becoming one to listen, and then to understand. With being a lawyer you have to listen to testimonies, it's not like you listen and then just make your decision you have to listen and understand what is being said so that you can use that evidence in your case. With the career paths, I'm on empathy is a quality that's in both careers. In conclusion, empathy is one of my value able characteristics and quality, and I use it in my every day life and future.

Hello, my name is Jalen Turner; I am currently a Senior in Momence Community High School and I am from Kankakee, Illinois. I have had many adversities in my educational pursuit. The greatest adversity I face is funding my tuition for college. With the rising costs of tuition, affordability has become a major challenge for myself and many others. I feel like I should give up trying because I don't believe I can attain enough funds, that will make attending school more attainable. Currently I am trying to overcome this by starting to work extra hours, and trying to get overtime. As I am a student in High school, it is difficult can’t work as many house as I want, nor can I get a second job. I often ask my boss if I can work more, get more overtime or move up in the company; but I have been turned down every time because I'm a minor. In addition to working less hours, each paycheck has taxes gets taken out so I never have enough to try to get through it. The other way I am navigating through my adversities is that I am applying for a lot of scholarships. I know it's not a guarantee to earn any scholarship, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't try to apply. If I am given the opportunity to further my education I would major in Criminal Justice and have a minor in Music or medical studies. My dream job is to become a Police Officer, I have wanted to be a Protector of the Law since I was a child. To Serve and Protect my community, is my primary goal, to show the civilians in the community that they are protected and loved. I decided if I am unable to become a Police Officer I would like to become a Criminal Justice Lawyer, so I can still be involved with the law and the community. If I am given the opportunity I would be so blessed and I would be very grateful. My mom is a single parent who was raising three children but now providing for two, she went to college but never finished, so it would be an honor to have the opportunity to be the first person in my family to go off to college to further my education and give back to my mom. My typical day or week outside of school includes many activities. I participate in Community Service work, I am a prosecutor for Teen Court, and then I am also a part of the Youth Advisory Council (YAC). I also work part-time at a retail store. When I am at home I'm watching my brother, to help my mom out if she has to work, or I'm losing myself in a good book. That's basically a typical week or day for me outside of school. How I feed my curiosity is that outside of school I tend to go to the State Park, to walk the path, or to fish. I really enjoy it because it's a place I can clear my head and think about myself and think about life. When I am around nature I listen to the river, I look in the distance, and just think about the nature around me. I clear my head when I am in nature; I feel like i’m in my own world where there is no crime, no war, where everyone is at piece and love each other. I'm also a part of different organizations that I spend my time with them to discuss situations in school or in the community. Inside the school, I am the head of the Student Council, and serve as the Senior Class President. I have been class president since my freshmen year of high school. That is how I feed my curiosity in and outside of School. Thank you for taking the time to read my essay and I hope you consider me for your Scholarship.

My name is Jalen Turner, I have had at least one person in my life who has impacted it. The person was my 6th-grade year teacher, Mrs. Sylvester, I was really struggling with my education with life and death, I was struggling with a lot back then. I was failing a few of my classes because I just wanted to give up on everything. I wanted to give up on my education, and give up living the rest of my life. I had left school for two weeks because I had gone to therapy. When I returned back to school I was behind on a lot of assignments, and I didn't even know anything that was given to me because I wasn't taught it from either of my classes. So she spent the time to teach me everything that I missed from all of my classes. She wasn't good at math so she would go to the math teacher and ask them to teach it to her. It really helped the impact on my life because it caught me up on my homework, and my grades had gone back up. I plan on giving back to my community in the future by helping the people as much as possible. I would try to start my own tutoring business so we can help kids in need that needs to catch up so they wouldn't feel behind or lost. Not everyone has a teacher like Mrs. Slyvester, so it would be nice for the next generation will have a chance.

Hello, my name is Jalen Turner; I am a senior at Momence Community High School. I am from Kankakee, Illlinois. One of the ways I support my community is that I volunteered to help clean up the trash on the side of the streets. It is relevant to my community because nobody would want to live in a community; that is not being taken care of and that just looks terrible. Another way I help support my community is that I hosted a Mobile Food Pantry for everyone, that needed it. We did not only give out food; I challenged people in my community to bring in toiletry items. It was a long stretch because I did not know if anyone was going to bring supplies in but they did. The way it was relevant to my community; is that I was able to pass out the items to anyone who came and need it. We did not ask anyone about their living situation if they came we distributed it out to them and offered to carry the items to their car if it was too heavy or just because. With the Mobile Food Pantry, it was an honor and a privilege to do something like that. I always knew helping the community was a passion that I had because I do care for others. But during the pantry there was a moment I almost cried, there was a lady that had told me her story when I was helping her. Telling how God blessed I am, and how this helps her and her family. There was a situation about her daughter living in her car, and that she is grateful that we are doing this because she had no way to provide for herself. The time I was helping to clean up my community streets around Kankakee. I was the only teenager there. The rest was a couple of adults helping out with the clean-up. When I was told about it I didn't hesitate to say "Yes" because helping the community is one of the opportunities I love. We made a good look for Kankakee because we were able to show the Mayor everyone that lives or drives through Kankakee that we care about our community, and we care about how it looks. I am hoping that my college studies won't just impact my mission to provide for the community but I am hoping that it will push my passion for it even more. I am hoping that once I enter college, that I will find someone or even a group of people that loves helping the community as I do. So, that we all can brainstorm ideas on how we all can provide to our community as a class, and as one mind; as one people. One of the worse situations are is to have people that don't care about the community, and about keeping it clean and safe. With that being said it is the best part of life when you find a group of people that likes what your during with no hesitation and that would do it non -stop. That is how I think college studies will help me impact and provide for my community. Providing for your community is not a job is something that everyone should try and help do because it is an honor and a Privilege.

For me to tell you about the turnaround of my life. I first have to start at the beginning. So I have actually been very depressed or stressed out in my past. I have not really known what to do except to give up, and not even try to stay up and moving. I have put a wall up so I could not be hurt again because every time I thought I could trust someone I would put my wall down and then I would be getting hurt again. So I decided to put it back up and to never let anyone penetrate it again; to never catch me off guard again. Not only that, it caused me not to trust anyone and to stay to myself and keep everything in. When truthfully it was actually tearing my inside. I had lost my faith in God. I lost my faith in love; and I even lost my faith in myself. I had thought god didn't love me anymore; even turned his back on me. I couldn't here him anymore nor could I see the path he wanted me to go on, so I had almost completely given up. Until I met that one person. I didn't realize what was going on until they penetrated my wall. I wasn't expecting it but then I realized the path I was being led on was with them. It was destiny for us to meet. I finally have someone that keep some calm and keep me from thinking those thoughts. My turn around in my life is that I put down my wall and let someone in that is now my Brother. Now I see happiness and Love and someone that cares for me. I am so proud and happy that I met them.

Hello, my name is Jalen Turner. I am currently a Senior at Momence Community High School. One thing about being a mentor is that you have to work well with others and actually pay attention to what is going on in that person's life. You can't just say you wanna be a mentor and not really mentoring; you really have to take time and bring that person that you are helping into your life and connect with them for you to mentor them. I suffer from a mental health disorder and bipolar. At one point I am upset I'm ready to end it all and in the second half; I am happy at one point and then I am so Angry or Upset that I start to block everyone out. There use to be times that I would start going off on everyone because I would be so upset that I think it's better off for me to just take it out on people. I have learned that's not the right way to go. So I actually changed my ways and found out that helping kids, teenagers around my age, and just people, in general, makes me happy because you can connect with them. That's actually what being a mentor is all about is actually connecting with people. I hope that I can help everyone if they are ever depressed. I want to show them that they are not alone and that they will have me always to talk to. That I would never give up on them and never abandon them no matter what.

Hello, My name is Jalen Turner. I am an African American 18-year-old. I am currently a Senior at Momence Community High School. My educational goal is to go to a 4-year University; to study Criminal Justice. The only reason why I want to study Criminal Justice is that I want to be able to protect my community and the people in it. I've been through a lot for the past 18 years I've been on this earth. There were many times I wanted to just give up and just wanted to end it all. But I haven't because I had people there for me that cared for me and always tried to keep my head up. That was one of the obstacles, I was diagnosed with a significant depressant disorder. I've been trying not to give up and just trying to keep it but every time I do it does tear me down. Being in school makes it a lot harder to deal with it. There was a time that I would have a panic attack and start breaking down; I would try hurting myself, I would beat my chest just to feel the pain. I use to think doing that would fix everything because I would feel nothing but pain. But then I realized it actually wasn't helping. But after I was able to learn from that experience. I was able to learn from that experience because I use to keep a wall up because I have very bad trust issues and because I did not ever want to get hurt again so I had put a wall up. But then this one person brought it down not on purpose but I think on accident. He, My Brother Anthony Matinez, helped me learn that I'm actually had people that care for me and that God actually does hear me and see what I'm going through. Honestly, I felt that God had left me and couldn't see me anymore. But then My Brother helped me realize that he actually is still watching over me and still can see me and is actually watching over me. I feel that Anthony was a God-given gift for me from God because not only did he help me realize that it was worth it to be on this earth he actually was able to tear a barrier down that I told myself I would never let go of. That's one of the reasons why I wanna fulfill my education in Criminal Justice because not only I can help the community and the people but I want the Children and the Parents to be able to trust me and to come to me whenever they have any type of problems. I don't want them to think even though I'm a Police Officer I wouldn't understand what's going on because we are forced to be that way to only enforce the law. I want them to know that even another Police Officer wouldn't I would. I will be there at your becking call if you just need to talk and tell me what's going on because I don't want anyone; to go through what I went through or almost did. I want them to know just how I have Anthony, that they can have someone as well to help them get through it. Thank you for the time to read this essay, I hope it answered your question and I hope you consider this essay. I've really learned a lot since around that time and I love to help others and help the community.

I have a family member who is currently incarcerated. It is my father: My father has been in and out of the system for years now and I feel like I have never really had a father figure in my life. It had impacted my life expeditionary because not only do I not really have a father figure in my life, I have not been able to see my brothers or sisters on his side because he's always in jail. I have not really had the opportunity to get to know them. I told myself that I would never talk to him again nor even look at him for when he got out because I was so hurt about it. The last time he went in which he is in jail presently, he went in prison a couple of days before my birthday. When I found out I was so upset and just so mad because not only was he in jail before my birthday, he was in jail again when he made a promise to never go back in. He had actually called me and I did answer even though I told myself I'm not talking to him, but I had to know " Why was he in jail again?" and " Why can't he stay out?". What he had told me is that " It's hard to stay out. Once you've been in that you get used to it and that it will always be a part of you" when he used that as an excuse I understood, and I forgave him because I know it may be hard to stop doing something your use too. It didn't really impact my education because I was able to use the story for an essay. After all, they wanted the essay to be about "Me" and it's a part of my life so I had to use it. It actually did help me regarding my goals for my future. It made me not realize but know; I don't wanna be like my father in and out of the system. That even though my dad did what he did and that he owns up to it etc. That I don't want my life to be like that, nor do I want my kids to have to deal with their father in the system none stop. Even though my father is in the system I realized that I can actually learn and help other kids around my age or even adults to help cope with it. My mom used to tell me that my dad was in a faraway place when I was a kid because she didn't think it was okay to inform me that he was in jail. It is understandable but I would have rather she told me than kept it from me. I can overcome this part of my life by owning up to it and not being upset or mad at my father for what he did because all it's gonna do is bring me down and be stuck in my mind. But one of the ways I was able to overcome this is that now I know how it feels to have a family member incarcerated; I can help other teens and kids get through it and tell them that everything will be okay no matter what. That they will be able to get through this if they don't give up and keep fighting. Thank you.

My favorite book is the "House of Night Series". The series is my favorite book because it has everything I'm interested in. It brings Adventure, sci-fi, Horror, together in basically one series. It gets better and better every chapter I get to, and with every book, I start to read it get's better and better. When I read the book there are certain points of the book I will be gasping at because I wouldn't have expected. It's hard for me to even put the book down, even when I'm getting sleepy because I just keep going. I will be trying to stop but the book is so good it's hard to put the book down. Everybody, know's the Myth about vampires and how it's different with every movie and every Tv Series, and then everybody known how Werewolves can imprint but now in this series vampires can imprint. Then in all the Movie, Tv-Shows, I've seen the way you can get turned into a vampire is that you have to get bit so the venom can get into your system or you drink the vampire blood, and then you die with the blood in your system. But in this series, the way you get turned into a vampire is that a tracker comes in find you where ever you are and then mark you on your forehead and tell you "The Goddess has chosen you for the Tulse house of Night", then you have to go to the House of Night which is a school for new vampires and be around adult vampires or you will die. so it's very different and that's what I like about the series the most. I'm very addicted to the series and can never stop reading it.

Hello, so my name is Jalen Turner and I am a senior in High School and I'm gonna tell you how I overcame adversity in my life. There was a part of my life that I wanted to commit suicide that, a time when I didn't even have faith in God anymore, that I thought he didn't love me. I thought nobody cared for me and that hurt me a lot, I didn't know what to do except take the easy way out. I just wanted my life to finally end so I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore; during school, I would walk into the bathroom very upset crying, and just saying " I wish I was dead. Why am I here? God, Please kill me take me off this earth already!" and then I would be in the bathroom to beat my chest until I couldn't breathe anymore. During a class one day my English Teacher, Mrs. Sylvester, hacked into my Chromebook and seen everything I was looking at. What I had searched up was "17 Painless Ways to Commit Suicide." That was one of my most difficult times ever. How I got through it by writing everything down in a journal and then burning it so it's like me burning away my stress and my pain. I started to realize some people cared for me and that wasn't hated like I thought I was. Then during that time I started to see the signs from our Heavenly father, I started to feel his touch and him talking to me when I am alone. He showed me that path I wanted to be on and showed me what he wanted for me. That experience shaped me into a person that will try to help anyone that is going through the same thing I did and talk to them and help change how they are feeling. The expectations I have for myself are to never think down on myself and never abuse myself and always try to stay happy because if you are then other people will be as well. My personal goals are to stay motivated and to always help other people in need. When I see someone in need either in school or on the streets it's my job to help them. That is why I have a certificate for community service. God showed me what my purpose is and it is to help other people. But my personal goals are to stay motivated, stay calm, and not let anyone bring me down. This is my adversity and how I overcame it. Thank you for reading, I hoped you learned something about me.