The gift of love saved my life. As an American, there is so much I take for granted. I can wear a dress in public without the fear of being imprisoned. I can go to a school that provides me with books and technology. I can work a job for fun and not for survival. I can worry about gaining weight because there is food in every corner of my house. I can sleep peacefully in my own bed because I have a house in a safe neighborhood. I can take for granted the life that I have because two strangers chose to love me. That love gave me a life I was never supposed to have. I was adopted from Guatemala when I was seven months old. All I know is that I was born in the mountains to a native woman living in extreme poverty. My family will never know what came of her. If she had other kids or if she is still alive. What do I know? My life in America is beyond a life this woman could ever imagine. When I was a baby, I had a crib with soft blankets and stuffed animals. I was bathed in clean water and mountains of bubbles. As a kid, my parents bought me new school supplies every year and when I ran out of lunch money my mom would just give me more like it was second nature. I had birthday parties every year. Big parties with presents and cake. My mom drove me everywhere I wanted to go and I could always count on a mountain of presents just for me on Christmas morning. I wonder if kids in Guatemala have ever gone to school with a new computer or slept in a two-thousand-dollar crib surrounded by gifts from every person they would ever know. Do they get cake on their birthday or have a private ride to school? No. No, they don't and if I were not adopted, I wouldn't either. College to me is a testament to how lucky I am. I live in a country where I can dream big and chase those dreams however I see fit. If I still lived in Guatemala school wouldn't be an option let alone college. My dream is to be a voice actor for Disney movies. I remember growing up watching Frozen in the movie theater with my sister and thinking that one day I would be the voice behind the screen. In Guatemala, most people have never even seen a movie. I auditioned for plays in school and I got to buy fun outfits just for a performance. People in Guatemala don't have clothes to wear out of need, let alone to wear for one-time use. I can attend classes for acting and have the opportunity to audition for prestigious productions. People in Guatemala wouldn't have the time or the money to even go to these auditions or even own a computer to look for these opportunities. Life is a game of luck and it's fair to say that I have already won. I was born with nothing and now I live with everything. College to me is the opportunity to pursue the dream I was never supposed to have. I want to show the world that it doesn't matter where you came from or how your story is supposed to be told. You can do anything. I get to dream because I am an American. A life I was never supposed to have, is now a life I seek to make the most of.

The actions of one man can change the lives of many more. Samuel D. Hartley was motivated by integrity. To serve your country and risk your life fighting a cause for others, knowing nobody will ever know your name, is a true testament to integrity. It was never about the prize for Samuel D. Hartley. It was about doing the right thing. Whether serving in the community or serving the nation, Samuel D. Hartley had the heart to put others before himself. Samuel D. Hartley embodied the principle of integrity. Doing the right things was never about a reward. If you were a good person, there is no greater honor than going to sleep every night knowing the world had a new smiling face because of you. I can attest to the notion of one man having the power to change the lives of many more. The reason I am here today is because of people like Samuel D. Hartley. People who were willing to be a friend when no one else would. People who used their hearts to heal and not to hurt. People who lived to love. Those people not only change lives, but they also save them. I know what it's like to feel alone. To feel like you have no place and see no reason to wake up every morning. This pain is like no other. A darkness no person should ever feel. While we can't save everyone, we can try. Samuel D. Hartley tried. My friends tried. I will always try. The power of a smile. The power of kind words. The power of love. That is the heart of what makes our world a better place. My world is a better place since my friends came along and we are all in a better place since Samuel D. Hartley came along. The day someone smiled at me. The day someone invited me to sit at the table. The day someone called me their friend and the day I walked up to a tear-stained face and watched it lift into a smile... Those are the days I remember. My dream is to be a voice actor for Disney movies. I remember what it felt like to watch a movie and see a face like mine. A story like mine. I knew in those moments that I was never alone. Someone like me could be happy and someone like me could be loved for who they are. Those movies were all gifts. Gifts for the world. I want to gift that love to someone. I want that person who feels alone or that person who feels unloved to know that they are special and they will change the world just by being themself. My dream to be an actor is beyond that of fame or fortune. At heart, I want to make people smile. I want people to love who they are. Life is challenging and some people will try to knock you down but not everyone. Samuel D. Hartley knew he couldn't change the world on his own. No one person has that much love in them and they aren't supposed to. We change the world together. We do as Samuel D. Hartley did. We leave a legacy of love. There is strength in numbers and together we can change even one person's life. If one man could love enough to leave the world a better place... Imagine what eight billion men could do in his name. I vow to live like Samuel D. Hartley. To love with a passion capable of changing the world.

It’s hard to imagine where I would be today, without golf. Though I played for a short time, I learned more about life through my golf journey, than I ever could have learned on my own. Most importantly, golf gave me the greatest gift I could ever ask for. A gift I never knew I needed and a gift I will forever be grateful to have. The blessing of two exceptional coaches. That was the gift that golf gave me. To say I had good golf coaches would never be justice enough. On paper, a coach is simply a mentor. Someone who teaches you. Someone who encourages you. Someone you are inspired by. My coaches were so much more than a cookie-cutter definition of that word. My coaches were leaders and believers. My coaches were my home. Despite all my challenges, failures, and doubts, my coaches helped me see I wasn't worthless, I just needed more experience. It’s fair to say, golf was not my strong suit. I struggled a lot. I couldn't get the ball to go more than a few yards. I never got my drive over the water. I could hit balls on the range but never on the course. I failed more times than I remember and always had little to show for. I would never have blamed my coaches for walking away. I was a lost cause and would never make them proud. They just needed to give up on me, but they never did. They were always there to get me back on the green. They always stayed to see me finish every match. At the end of my final match, my coaches said five words to me. The most powerful five words I have ever heard in my life. "I am proud of you". My coach's approval meant more to me than any title. My coach's approval meant more to me than any win. There was no greater feeling. I'm not sure what lies beyond this point and it’s impossible to imagine a life without my coaches. I take comfort in knowing that no matter how great the struggle is, I will always be strong enough to get through the darkest hours. I learned that from my coaches. I learned to never settle for anything less than what I am capable of. I learned to love myself for who I am. This was all because of my coaches. Everything started with them. They took a chance on me. They never gave up on me. They gave me a reason to keep going. Good coaches are hard to find because the best two coaches will forever be mine. In every sport. In every hour. In every win and every defeat… I will always choose my coaches.

I first hit the stage when I was in second grade. Even at the tender age of seven, I knew that I had found my calling. To perform, to be myself, to be happy. That is what the arts mean to me. In 2016, I hit a rough patch. The environment I once found my home in, was now the one I feared the most. I was afraid to be myself, in any room at any time. A shadow of the person I once was. I no longer saw a world where I belonged. I decided to step away from the stage. Maybe dreams only existed in movies. I went to three different high schools over a year and a half, I was in my third high school. I decided to take theater because I wanted to have fun again. I was the new kid, didn't have any friends, I was shy and just looking for a fresh start. Theater seemed like the perfect way to not only make friends but to lift my spirits and find a new home. I credit my decision to take theater, with saving my life. To imagine a life without Fuuqay theater is to imagine no life at all. The person I am today is the person I was born to be. Someone who is not afraid to take risks. A person who is unapologetically themself. What I want people to take away from my story, is that it is never too late to get back on your feet. Never settle for the person others want you to be. Strive to be the person you were born to be. Taking that chance to get back on the stage in high school truly brought acting full circle to me. The kid who once walked away from the stage because she was scared, was now in an environment where she could showcase her talent and perform for the masses. I could tell my story and let the world see me. The real me. The theater is the home where I am welcomed. Theater gave me back what I had lost many years before… my dream. I let go of the person others wanted me to be and now, I am the person I was born to be. Theater gave me a new perspective on life and now I know... People may call you crazy for having a dream but your dream is not theirs, so only you need to believe. You can't let fear stop you from doing the things you love. Let yourself be free, so you can finally live. The road will be rough and you may have to go alone, but with courage and will, you can take on the unknown.

To me, being an athlete is more than a title. Being an athlete to me, is an identity. An identity that I earned through hard work, determination, intelligence, and courage. I started going to the driving range with my mom when I was in high school. It was a fun outing and I liked that I was having fun. What started as an occasional outing, quickly morphed into a passion for being on the range. The summer going into my junior year of high school, I decided to try out for my school's golf team. I had recently given up soccer, the sport that gave me a love-hate relationship with not only athletics but with myself. I was depressed and alone. I felt incomplete without being an athlete. If I didn't have a sport to play... Who was I? I figured that if I was going to try a new sport, at least I had some experience with golf. Minimal at best and quite mediocre, but at least it was a start. I started small. I would use my putter and hit golf balls into a solo cup in my room. I went to the driving range and tried to get the ball as high and far as I could. In the days leading up to the tryout, I was extremely nervous. Was I in over my head? Was I making a mistake? I didn't have the experience, talent, or knowledge to play golf. What if the other girls made fun of me? What if I was so bad that everyone laughed at me? I was scared. I was afraid to even try. Going to my tryout, I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. As I got out of the car and walked up to the course, I told myself one thing... Whatever happens, you should be proud of yourself for trying. For years I walked away from things I was afraid to try. Acting, sports, math, joining clubs. I was comfortable not taking the shot because to me not knowing if I could do something, was better than knowing that I couldn't do something. My golf tryout went as good as it could have. I didn't lose my ball. I finished the course. I got one drive over the water. I even made the team. To me though, nothing meant more than my courage to try. To be vulnerable and walk in knowing I would be the worst golfer there. To miss the ball time and time again and still have the will to believe I could get a good shot. The maturity to ask for help because I couldn't mark my score card and I didn't know the names of my clubs. The bravery to cry when I felt that I had failed and still finished the course knowing I was the furthest from success. Through golf, I lost my fear of failure. Golf allowed me to let my guard down. To experience failure and let that passion fuel my victories. I never achieved anything special in golf. I was a bench player for the best team in the conference, but as an individual contributed very little. Being a golf star was never my goal though. My goal was to have the confidence to shoot my shot, not knowing where it would land. Golf gave me that confidence. Confidence that leads me through every challenge in life. Now I know, sometimes you just have to take that shot. You never know where it will land! I will forever be grateful for taking that shot.