Growing up in Fernley, I participated in community youth sports leagues, attended community events, and have been involved in community service. These experiences have shaped me into who I am today and have influenced my future career path. Athletics are a big part of who I am. I grew up playing soccer for Fernely’s AYSO program, dancing for Fernley Performing Arts and playing softball for the Fernley Youth Softball League. The time I spent participating in youth soccer gave me friendships to last a lifetime and the confidence to continue playing sports during my high school career. Playing varsity soccer at FHS for 4 years with the same teammates I grew up playing with in AYSO, strengthened my relationship with teammates both on and off the field. These bonds allowed my team to work well together in games. I have also come to recognize that in Fernley pretty much everyone is friends just like in soccer. The town shows up for eachother and is supportive. This point of support is also evident with Fernley Community Arts. I danced there when the company was just starting, the majority of the dancers were friends with the owner and her kids. My younger siblings dance there now and the number of dancers has increased exponentially since my time there and the attendance of recitals has quadrupled in size. Softball, like dance now, has always had great player and spectator participation. My time in community sports has motivated me to coach youth and high school athletics and to live in a town like Fernley, one full of friendship, support and involvement. Fernley hosts many community events that I have attended and helped put on. The Fourth of July festivities and the Christmas parade are awesome events that unite the city. Another holiday event is the City of Fernleys Spooktacular for Halloween. I have helped decorate and run the Spooktacular at City Hall for the past two years with the high school’s National Honor Society (NHS) chapter. It is so fun to see the young kids enjoy the bounce house, fire truck, police car, and the building's haunted hall. It is also through NHS that I got involved with Project Linus. I spend most Thursday evenings making blankets for children in hospitals while conversing with older, mature women who live in town. These ladies love to sit and tell stories of when they were younger and many of them have lived in Fernley for a long while. It is cool to learn about the town's history from them and to interact and laugh while working to help those in need. My participation in these events and the mentorship of the ladies at Project Linus helped me decide that I want to work in an environment centered around kids. When I joined leadership at Fernley High School, I truly started giving back to the community through service. One of our biggest events every year is our annual homecoming. Two out of my four years in high school we did a homecoming hero. Our heroes were local kids currently battling cancer. As senior class president, I was the head of this past homecoming and loved getting to know our hero throughout the planning process. It was decided that our homecoming would be carnival-themed based on our hero’s desire to attend one. All events throughout the week followed this theme and we hosted a mini carnival at the high school in his honor. For both of our heroes, all money raised at events was donated to their families and we got local businesses involved who donated profits from specific sales. Between the two heroes, we raised about 30,000 dollars which was given to the families to help cover medical bills. Both heroes are now cancer free which is very exciting. Working with these boys solidified my decision to work in the pediatric field. I have always wanted to be a doctor, specifically an anesthesiologist; however, because of my community service I was inspired to enter peds and because of our homecoming hero last fall, I decided to specialize in oncology. His sweet smiles, boundless energy, and positive attitude inspired me to dedicate my life to helping kids in their fight against cancer. I will forever be grateful for the City of Fernley and its impact on my future career ambitions and life goals.