Mental health is something that, while it has gained a lot of attention, is still greatly looked over. I struggle with anxiety. My anxiety makes me pick apart every little aspect of my life and overthink it all. It has caused me to hide away from others and not try new things. I tend to think about what others normally don't even give a second thought to, till I get so sick to my stomach that I throw up. I have a tendency to believe that everything is my fault. Over the past few years of my life I thought that this would have held on everything I do. Now looking back on these past few years of my life, even looking back when I was younger, I can see how my anxiety has completely controlled me. In these past few years I have worked hard in overcoming this. I have learned that I can not let it control me and dictate everything I do. I have learned different ways to control it when I feel like it’s starting to take hold of me. I have learned to look at the light side more and to understand that not everything that happens is my fault. I have learned that sometimes I just need to stop and take a breath. To stop and think if what I am thinking and feeling is rational or if it is not. I have become happier and have accomplished my more as I have continued to learn this. I have made more friends now that I have tried to worry less and not let the anxiety control me. Since I have started high school I have thought of many different career paths that I could take, but I have always gone back to one: Education. More specifically, I want to be a special education teacher in middle school or high school. I started to want to be a teacher in fourth grade and it shifted into wanting to be a special education teacher in sixth grade. I started wanting to be a teacher because when I moved when I was in fourth grade the teacher helped me a lot, and helped me feel better like I was a part of the class and not an outsider. I made the discover that I wanted to be a special education teacher when I was in art class in sixth grade. In our class in the back sat a kid that was part of the special education program and his aid. As the quarter went by I was very inspired by the way she helped him and kept him involved. I want to help other kids the way that she had helped him, and be the difference in their school experience that they need to succeed. To accomplish this I plan to go to college to get my bachelors degree so I can become the special education teacher that the next generations of kids need. I want to attend Berry College and major in education. I am very grateful for the chance to apply to this scholarship. My parents have always been my role models. They have taught me the meaning of hard work and without them I don't know If I would be where I am now. But college can be a financial burden and I am the oldest of four kids. This means that my parents are gonna have to put four kids back to back through college. This scholarship can help take the financial burden off them and help me achieve my goals of becoming a special education teacher.

I am currently a senior in high school. These past couple of years I have thought about what I want to do in later in live. After thinking about several options, I always go back to one: teaching. More specifically becoming a special education teacher. The personal experience that influenced me to pursue special education happened when I was in the sixth grade. I was in art class at the time. The way that the room was set up was there was several rows of two tables that set two students, and the back was two larger tables where she kept the art supplies and other things we may need. At this table also sat a boy in the special education program and his aid that helped him in the class. I remember the kids always talked about him behind his back. I didn’t understand why at the time but thinking back I think it was because he was different, and they did not understand. During this time, I watched his aid and noticed how she always helped him and got him involved with the art. Seeing all the ways that she helped him, how she got him involved, and modify what we did so he could do the activities. Seeing how she helped him and supported him opened my eyes and makes me want to be like her. I want to help these kids see that even though they are different they can still do what the other kids do even though they may have to go about it a little differently than the others do. I want to be a safe space for these kids for them to develop and learn the tools that they will need to succeed in their life's. I am very thankful for the opportunity to apply for this scholarship. My parents have always taught me that education is very important. I hope that I am considered for this scholarship.

I am a current high school senior. I want to become a special education teacher. This has been my biggest dream since I was a in the 5th grade. My dream for teaching started a little bit before that. I want to become a special education teacher because in 5th grade in art class there was this boy that had special needs. I was inspired by his aid, with the way she helped him and always seemed like she knew what to do if he was having a hard time. No matter what, even if he couldn't completely do what we were doing at the time, she would always find ways to modify it so he could participate. In these past few years I have been a part of the marching band for my old school, where I volunteered for helping with the apple fest. I have been part of the Environmental Club, where I worked to spread awareness for our environment. I have also been part of my schools choir. I have been apart of a few performances in the community. I have been bullied myself. I was bullied by girls in my class for the way I looked and the way that I acted. I remember the way that it had made me feel like I was never gonna be good enough and that I had to work harder to conform to the way that everyone else was. It destroyed myself confidence. One of the things that I would do is to spread awareness on all the different kinds of bullying and the way it effects a person. I have learned that sometimes if a person understands the consequences of their actions then they are less likely to perform things that could result in hurting others. I also make sure that the people around me know that I am always there if they need someone to talk to, or if they need help. In the future I hope to create a safe space in my classroom so that kids feel free to talk to my about any bully, in-person or cyber, and trust thatI will do everything in my power to help them and to get them out of that situation. I am the oldest of four kids. We are all currently in high school. To accomplish my goal of becoming a special education teacher I need to attend college. My parents will have to put four kids through college back to back. It will be a great finance strain on them. A scholarship will greatly help. I am honored that I am being considered for this scholarship.

As I have made my way through my teenage years I’ve realized many people are gonna compare me to themselves. The Olivia Rodrigo lyric that resonates with me the most is “but I fear that they already got all the best parts of me and I’m sorry that I couldn’t always be your teenage dream” from her song “teenage dream”. These lyrics resonate with me for many reasons, the first being I’m scared I won’t complete all my parents' dreams for me to do. In the past few years I have been an honors student and a band kid. I know that I have accomplished and done a lot. I feel like everyone around me is still looking for me to keep going and accomplish more. That’s a lot of pressure. I'm 18 and just want to live my life the way I want to. Being the oldest child I feel like there is a lot of pressure on me to accomplish so much. Honestly I know I can do it, but there are times that to me it feels, like the song says, that I think I’ve accomplished all I can and I’m capped out on accomplishments. I constantly fear that I won’t live up to their expectations. So as I’m going off to college I hope that I can life up to these expectations. People say that the teenage years are supposed to be some of the best of your life. My aunts and uncles are close in age to me. They are constantly comparing the way I’m spending my time in high school to theirs. Like they expect me to conform my life to what thiers were. I wish they would understand that we are two very different people and that they would just let me live my life the way that I want. I understand that they are trying to help but they aren’t trying to help me live my life better, they are trying to get me to live the life they wish they had as teenagers. I know that some people see this time in a person's life to be for parties and to just hang out with your friends, but while I do enjoy hanging out with my friends sometimes I don’t like to party and would prefer to stay home and study. The song “teenage dream” has made me realize how I’m not alone. Most teenagers, me, think that this is something that they go through alone. But Olivia has made me realize that this isn’t true that teens like me around the world are experiencing similar things. That is why I love her new album “Guts” so much. It has so many similar things that I’ve gone through as a teenager and has made me realize that I am not alone in this difficult period of my life.

My career of choice is education. More specifically I want to become a special education teacher for elementary or middle schoolers. I want to become a special education teacher to show the next generation the things that make them different also make them special. I want to teach them that even though they are different they can still be an active member of society and make a huge difference in this world. I started to become passionate about this when I was in the 6th grade. I had art class with one of my best friends at the time. I remember we sat in the last row of desk and there was a table behind us. Everyday a kid in special education and his teacher who come into the class. I remember the kids that sat in front of us would always whisper about him, about how different he was from the rest of us and how bad he was at art. I remember thinking, "why are they making fun of him he's just like us." I still think about that everyday and how the teacher always helped him and showed such kindness to him. I want to make the difference for the kids in the classroom and give them that little bit of help that they needs. While in high school there was many time that I just wanted to go out and just party and do some probably not smart things, but I didn't. I didn't because I knew to get to were I needed to be in life I needed to study so I stayed home to improve my grades. As I've gotten older I have started to realise that the people I surround my self with are very important. I stopped hanging with some of the people that I realised would hold me back from what I wanted to become. I've also realised in the past years, that I can't keep doing what I'm comfortable doing. To get places in life you have to push yourself. I have realised if I have to try new things or I won't keep moving forward. Now that I have started trying new things and pushing my self to do better Ive realised I am a better person and closer to where I need to be. This coming fall I am getting ready to go to college. This next chapter is gonna push me out of my comfort zone, but I am very excited and can't wait. I hope to become the educator that this next generation needs and deserves.

Since I was a little girl, I have had only one dream and that is to be a teacher. I want to be in a classroom and teach the next generation and help them find their place in society, and to do this I first need to find mine. To do that I need to get a college education to become the teacher I want to be to help them. To me the importance of education was taught to me at an early age by my father. My father is a diesel mechanic in a mine, and I remember him coming home covered in white dust from limestone from where he worked. After a long day of work my dad would always come home hurting, and he would always say to us that we need to take our education seriously so we don't end up with a job like his. He always wants us to have a better life than he did. As the years have past I have seen the effect it has on him. It makes me think that he is right. Education to me is important because to me it symbolizes hope and future opportunities. Education is important because it gives me a chance for a better life, and it gives me a chance to help others and help them find a better life. It is important to me to make a change in this world, and I feel with a teaching degree I could change it even if it is just a little. The legacy that I hope to leave behind is in the lives of my future students. I plan on going into special education. The legacy that I want to leave with these kids is that they know that even though they are different they can still be anything they want to be. I want them to leave my classroom with all the tools they need to be a member of their society. I also hope that every child that I teach knows that even in this big crazy world that they are all special in their own ways. I am the oldest child of four. We are all currently in high school, so my parents are going to have to put us through college back to back. This scholarship will help with the burden a college tuition can put on a family. I would be very grateful and honored if you would consider me for this scholarship.

All around me I see kids that have different kinds of learning disabilities and mental disabilities. Many in todays society don't see them as being able to be active parts of society. But I see it different. I think they can be active members, and I think it is important for them to be active member. To do this they must have an education and educator that helps them, and gives them the tools they need to complete this. I want to help offer them this education. I want to help them learn everything that they will need to be a member of society. I want to help them build the foundation that they will need. I will teach them that they may be different but that doesn't make them different from the rest of society. One of the things that caused me to want to become a special education teacher is when I was in art class in 5th grade. In this art class I sat at the back of the room with one of my friends Jessica, and I remember this kid that had a learning disability that sat at one of the back tables. I remember his aid that sat with him, she always helped him and I remember how he, even though he couldn't do what the rest of the class did, how he always worked hard. I want to work with kids like him and help them the way she helped him to show that while they can't do everything like everyone else they can still do it. Another one of the many teachers that has inspired me to become a teacher and helped me change my life was my Algebra 1 teacher. Her name was Ms. Hernandez I original wasn't supposed to be in her class, but do to a scheduling conflict I was placed into her class. Coming to her door I remember how nervous I was, and so did she. I remember she had helped me calm down, between the nervous of a new school and becoming a high schooler I was a mess, but she helped me see there was nothing to be nervous about that everything would be fine. As the semester went on I remember she helped me in so many ways, from letting me eat lunch in her classroom to being there when I needed someone to talk to, with out her I don't know how the beginning of my freshman year would have went. She has inspired me to help the next generation in similar ways. Now as I am getting ready to attend attend college next year, I am thinking of all the ways that I can get ready to become the educator these young people will need. I am the oldest child of four and I will be the first person in my family to go to college. I would be so thankful and grateful if you would grant me this scholarship to help with the financial burden that college can cause.