Power of Positive Thinking

Mohammad Salah
ASU

Imagine being trapped in yourself. At first, it may seem like a mild mood swing. Then, it starts growing on you as the days pass by. You start to think you’re worthless, and even question the reason for your existence. Your goals and motives for life fade away as you start evaluating and analyzing your reality. You look at other people around you and see how happy they are, you envy them and hate them because you think you deserve that smile they have on their faces. You start separating yourself from other people, because you think that no one can understand you and feel your pain. And when you interact with other people, you only show them that fake and momentary smile to tell them you’re okay. You start avoiding going to bed because you know that when you try to sleep, all these issues and questions will shatter your mind. You want to break yourself free, not from this mild mood swing, but from your body, and you know that there’s only one way to do that.
Depression, that’s what it feels like. When I moved out from my parent’s house for college, I thought that this mild mood swing would be gone. I thought that starting a new life and getting rid of my old friends would make me a happier person. But the real world was different. The further I was trying to get away from my relatives and friends, the worse my depression would get. I felt that there were a thousand reasons for my depression, and the more I thought about them, the more I realized how little control we humans have over our own lives.
I lived next to a religious center that was helping Syrian refugees and those in need. As the days passed by, I realized something. There were a thousand reasons for me to be depressed, but there are more than million reasons for me to be happy. I realized that the more I consumed myself with my bad fortunes and negative thoughts, the less I enjoyed the blessings I already have. We waste a great deal of our valuable time comparing ourselves to others wishing we have what they have. But what about the blessings we already have?
Now, here comes the power of positive thinking. It is about being satisfied of what you already have because you know that you have great blessings many wish to taste. It is about looking up to people not because you envy them, but because you see yourself in them as a successful person and being certain you can be as successful if not more successful than them. It is about doing your part in helping those in need and being optimistic that soon all this misfortune happening around the world will end. It is summed up in the saying “just look at the bright side”.
My experience with depression is probably mild when compared to other severe cases of depression. But living with a positive attitude and focusing on my goals had remarkably helped me wake up each day with a clear head, knowing that I can achieve my goals and overarching dreams. I didn't get accepted to an ivy league school, but I know that I'm in a great fortune for being able to enter higher education and having a family willing to support me by all means to get that degree. I may not be the most sociable or have the most friends, having a few good friends and being able to effectively communicate is by itself a treasure we can't comprehend its greatness.
When I was first admitted to ASU, I was very skeptical and thought I deserved a better university. As the days passed by, I started looking on the bright side that I actually have a chance to get higher education, but there was still a part in me that wanted to get to the better schools. I stayed in this state until I met someone that came from Yale University. He explained how that school was very tough and how every student tries his best to avoid socializing because he knows that that will affect his grades. He also told me that even his friends from his hometown refused to help him when it came to studies because they wanted that better grade. “The competitiveness will kill you”, that’s how he summed up his experience at that university. At that moment, I thanked God that I didn’t get accepted to tougher schools, because I realized that having an easy 4.0 GPA and welcoming environment is much better than the prestige the other universities were offering.
None of us have perfect lives, and if we consume ourselves with all the misfortunes we have, we will be lost in a maze of depression. The true key for happiness is realizing that you are one of the wealthiest people on earth for having gifts many wish to have a taste of. Positivity has the power to change people’s lives. Most importantly, it has the power to bring happiness to even the simplest of people. Moreover, if we are able to find positivity in everyday events, we might have found the happiness we long for. Take for example all the apparent evil happening around the world, the homeless, the Syrian refugee crisis, global warming, and poverty to mention a few. It is heartbreaking and everyone should do their part to solve these problems. Now here is the silver lining, these misfortunes are actually evil, but they have the power to bring people together and make us all realize that at the end we are all humans and should help each other like one body.
In conclusion, life is hard, and very often, incredibly unfair! There’s no getting around that fact, but “Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it” - Charles R. Swindoll. So, we can either choose to be depressed every time we are tested with a difficult situation, or we can look at the bright side and see it as an opportunity for us to seize, use, or learn from it. Moreover, if we try to deal with everyday events with positivity, we might as well be the happiest individuals on earth. Because truly, the most important outcome of positivity is its ability to make us always happy, no matter how bad the situation is.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Toan Nguyen
​ASU

My name is Toan Nguyen and I am currently a sophomore studying Biomedical Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). During the second semester of my senior year of high school, I was in a car crash that resulted in a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a 3-inch scar on the back of my head, and a totaled car. Following the crash, I had an immense difficulty in my classes because senior year was the year that I decided to take college level courses to increase my chances of being accepted into the engineering program at ASU. I remember the headaches that made it nearly impossible to focus in class, the inability to speak/think naturally without strain, and the extreme fatigue I felt 24/7. It felt impossible to do well in school because of this and as I started to get worse grades, my hope of doing well in high school and college began to fade. I was unhappy with everything around me because one accident changed my entire life. I felt like I didn’t want to continue school because even though I worked hard and studied hard, I wasn’t able to get the grades I wanted.
However, after failing time and time again, I asked myself if I really should be angry that I’m not getting the grades I want despite trying my best? This question made me realize slowly that if I’m trying my best in all that I do, I shouldn’t be mad that I come short or that I didn’t do well and that I should think more positively about my situation. Even though I was struggling in everything I did, I was learning more and more how to work hard and to find the ways to study that worked for me. Yes, the situation that I was put in was unfortunate, but in the end, there is nothing that I could do about it except work with what I have and make the most out of it. My last semester of high school was not an easy one, but with hard work and dedication, I was able to graduate from high school.
When college started, doing work with my injured brain was even more difficult than I expected. I was learning new content in a new environment under new pressures I’ve never really felt before. For example, my grades seemed based off of 3 tests and one final that determined my entire grade. Not only that but it seemed like my life was based off of the GPA that I get each semester. I began to regret what happened to me in high school more and more. Freshman year of college was when I started to lose hope again of doing well in school and felt the pressures of getting a really good GPA as well as many extracurricular activities to make me stand out from other students. I don’t know how many times I walked around campus alone at night, since I was living in the dorms, because I just needed fresh air from the stress I was under. Over time I realized that college isn’t necessarily about the grade you get. College is about the experience you make, the knowledge you learn, and the opportunities you grab. This realization didn’t stop me from trying my best and definitely didn’t make me light hearted about the education I was able to receive because I continued to study hard despite difficulties and stress. I then began to focus more on the learning aspect of college and not so much the grade aspect of college. This ultimately made me a better student with a more positive outlook on college.
I am currently in my second year of college and have been fortunate enough to make it onto the Dean’s list every semester so far with a 3.66 cumulative GPA. I have made many life-long connections and learned many things throughout college. Furthermore, I was fortunate to be accepted into Dr. Mehdi Nikkhah’s lab under the supervision of Danh Truong, a PhD student studying breast cancer. Mr. Truong helped me complete two Fulton undergraduate research initiative (FURI) projects that involved the study of breast cancer cells and fibroblast cells. Every day I am in the lab I am learning more about breast cancer, how to work in a group, and how to read relevant publications that can help me design experiments I wish to study. Currently, I’ve been a part of the Nikkhah laboratory for 1 year and hopefully will be able to design my own experiments. In the semesters coming, I plan to grow even more. I aspire to intern for Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN), a medical company that can further shape the way I understand biomedical engineering. I understand school is not going to be easy, but I am sure that hard work and patience will ultimately lead to my successful future. 

The Power of Positive Thinking

Natalie Carranza

Do you ever wonder if the glass if half full or half empty? Mine is always half full! Positive thinking has many perks to it. In fact, it helps with increasing the life expand, lower levels of distress, and lower rates of depression (Mayo Clinic Staff, Par. 6). Imagine living a little longer because you’re simply just being positive all the time. Besides medical benefits, positivity can benefit you by boosting your self-esteem, increasing your confidence, and pushing you to do better. Positivity has benefited me in many ways throughout my life.
            Even though I am a very positive person, I haven’t always been. My freshmen year was when I realized that thinking positive would change the rest of my life. The first semester of my freshmen year, I kept to myself and always had my headphones in. I never wanted to talk to anyone and I didn’t want to be there. I walked to every class with headphones in my ears and in class, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to get my work done. My last hour, that semester, was Spanish I and I had a friend that was a junior in that class. I remember her telling me that freshmen elections were coming up for student council and she wanted me to do it. I remember my exact response, “Maybe my junior year I will.” She gave me a really dirty look and said, “I hate when people say that! They always say that but never do it!” I realized I did want to do it, I was just scared to run; I didn’t have the confidence to run. I came home and told my mom about it and she wanted me to do it so bad. She knew that this would help me not hate high school so much. I convinced myself to run, but I was going back and forth on whether I should run for president or vice president. My mom told me to run for president, she said, “Go big or go home.” I kept telling myself that I couldn’t do it and that I would lose and be humiliated if I ran for president, that I’m not good enough to hold that big of a position. These negative thoughts kept coming. Thankfully, my mom put so many positive thoughts in my head like “I can do it”. I ended up winning and I couldn’t be happier. Ever since then, I strive to be the best that I can be. I am no longer afraid of any negative outcomes because I put positive thoughts in my head. Most importantly, I am no longer afraid of failure. When that time comes in my life where I fail, I see that as an opportunity to learn, get back up and try again. My mom taught me that if I stay positive, nothing can keep me down.
            I always hear my peers talk about how they hate a class or how they dislike a teacher. But when I’m in that class or with that teacher they talk bad about, I don’t see anything bad about it. It’s the way the positive thinking works. When you think positive all the time, you will have very few “bad” classes or teachers or whatever the case may be. I always tell my mom that whatever job I end up with in the future, I know I’ll enjoy it no matter what because I make the very best out of what I have. I am so thankful that my mindset is so happy and positive. I thank my mom for my positive attitude. Now, I don’t doubt myself. I strive for the best and reach for the stars. Positivity taught me that the sky is the limit and nothing can hold me down.

Personal Development

Robelio Medina

I went to a high school called East Palo Alto Academy in California. It was a good school in which the teachers and students were close. I personally felt they went a bit too easy on the students. For example, they will let us turn in work late or just drop the work completely. While they did prepare us for college I felt the school should have been less lax for the student sake. It was common for seniors who one to college t say they did not feel ready for what college had prepared for them. The transition from our high school and college was too great. That's why instead of going to a four-year university right away I chose a community college instead.
            I chose to go to De-Anza community college to prepare myself for a San Jose State university. I feared that college would be too tough on me and I thought a two year would make the transition easier. I want to become a clinical psychologist when I graduate college. If there was ever a case in which I wanted to switch major it would be cheaper and easier in a two year. I want to avoid being in debt as much as possible. Going to a two year helps a lot since I can complete my first two years cheaper. I can also learn the life a college student before going to a four year.
            I have chosen that I am no longer going to UC Merced for transfer anymore. The reason is that they have general psychology as a major. General psychology is a far too broad for any major. I must study in clinical psychology in order to be a clinical psychologist. The school I decided to go to is San Jose State. I want to go study at this school since it’s close and seems fun to go to. I still am not decided where to go once I finish San Jose State. For my major I need a master’s degree. I am considering attending Palo Alto University for my master’s degree.
Once I started college I was quick to learn that no one will hold my hand. I can control if I pass or fail I can control so much as an adult now. I focused on all my weakness and learned how to improve in those areas. I could get advice from other students and how they studied and worked. One of the most useful skill I learned was rewriting my notes at the end of the day. I found this helped make it more easy to understand the content of my class. College has been such a learning experience for me.
            My first quarter at De-Anza I knew I had to do math classes which I am terrible at. This is the first time where I went to get a tutor to help me. This was one of the best decisions in my life since it helped me greatly. I did carry a bad habit in this quarter from high school. Which is that I don't really study since I think I know what I'm doing. This proved bad since I got a B in math but C in the rest of my grades. This was my first wakeup call that I need to change how I did work at school. I started to learn for new ways to study so I can pass my classes with all my effort.
In the spring quarter, I took a statistics class. Statistics was going to be my last math class I need to take. So far during the year I have gotten B’s with all my math classes. Statistics was a much harder class than I expected. I got a D in the class which devastated me greatly. This made me realize for this class I need a new way to study. I started my second time taking this class. Using my new methods of studying I have already started to see that I have better grades. I also like that the teacher gives the notes before so I can focus on what she is doing.
            Ever since this fall my life has been nothing but learning how I can become better. When I started, I thought I knew what to do. I quickly learned that college is so much more different especially with time management. I will work as hard as I can in college to become a Psychotherapist, to become the first one in my family to attend college and to become a role model in my community. I need support since my family cannot help pay for my education. I have tried my best in scholarships, making sure I apply to everyone I can find, but more importantly, I have been making decisions not to spend the money irresponsibly my freshman year. I want to grow into even a better person and can use my skills. With the support of this scholarship.

Positive Thinking

Molly Oneal

“I got the job!, we are moving to a new hotter than hell state where you will most likely die from loneliness, boredom, and be permanently damaged for life because of it”. My mother said cheerfully and excited almost like she was singing the news. Lighting and thunder rained down on me forcing me to drag back to the theater room. Okay so it did not truly happen that way, but as a 17-year-old girl who had lived in the same postage stamp sized town her whole life, it's how It felt, and because of that I spent entire year feeling bad for myself. I let my attitude towards moving keep me from enjoying my new home. I walked back into rehearsals bawling my eyes out, black eyeliner streaming down my face and told the cast of people who at the time were closer to me than my family the world shattering news, I was to move after the show. I had lived in Elsinore my entire life, I was Miss teen Lake Elsinore, a tour guide of the town's history museum with the energy of a chipmunk, and had become the stage manager with better organization than Martha Stewart. My parents had to drag me kicking and screaming into the state of Arizona. I had this idea in my mind that it would never be the same as my home for 17 years, and in a way I was right but where I was wrong was this wasn't a bad thing. I learned my closer than family friends were only friends of proximity as soon as I told them I was leaving, I became dead to them. My last week in town they threw a party and didn't invite me. Feeling crushed, beaten, and angry I subconsciously decided never to make friends again. I let in bad thoughts dictate how I lived my life. That no matter how Arizona was I was going to hate it. Around 3 months later I was about to start my first day at shadow mountain high school. With my stomach in knots all morning I put on a facade hair done up, makeup caked on and my outfit I spent months exploring peaks of the mountains of clothes that is my closet to find the perfect dress paired with a ripped vest in tatters and patches. I did all of this to mask the fact I was a sacred mess of a person so pressurized with emotions that one push would make me explode. After spending time listening to a dull plain jane of a receptionist drone on about “ The wonders of shadow mountain!” her mono toned voice barely changing as she recited the speech for the millionth time, I Began to walk into my first class. It was a cave of a room with the only light glowing from the projector. My chemistry teacher rushed over and said angry and frustrated “what do you need miss, can't you tell I am lecturing?” my hands trembling like an earthquake my voice tumbled out a mess and landed on the floor “ I am in this class now, I just moved here.” The teacher removed her glasses hands me back the paper and shushes me to the desolate back row with no further instruction. I stumble to the back row the kids in front of me practically drooling on their notebooks, after 3 centuries of notes, she had the rest of the class partner up and work on homework, while she shoved paper after paper of class instructions and expectations into my hands. When the bell sang I couldn't be happier to leave. I beat the world record for speed as I jetted out of the door. I had to keep my head down and be unnoticed for the rest of the day. As I handed my schedule to this odd french-Russian man who was my french teacher. He had my introduce myself in French to the rest of the class what I meant to say was j’m’apelle molly, what came out was barely a squeak as I rushed to the closest empty desk. I scribbled in my notebook for the rest of the class period. I met Mrs.Porter who was sweet and cheerful and assigned me a watered down gothic girl to help me out. That's when I realized I was a complete outsider in comparison to the rest of the class. Most girls dressed simply and conservatively with great contrast to my black dress and punk patch jacket. Most of the class had brown or blonde hair so my bright neon purple mop of hair stuck out. I spent the rest of the class period and lunch half-heartedly pretending to like the same music as the watered down goth and practically ran to the class I was most excited for production workshop and management. I had always had a passion for building and designing and for once during that day had my head up high, this was my domain! I was greeted by a bubbly actress of a teacher her curls bouncing and her voice dancing out. I was utterly horrified, I knew Instantly she knew nothing about carpentry and an acting was teacher covering for the shop class. I was dead on the money, the normal workshop teacher was out for a semester. As we worked on focusing lights someone ask if I could get them a light wrench I quickly found one and handed it to this large gruff looking man, he just looked at me and laughed and said very annoyed “ I wanted a light wrench, I thought you said you were a light designer” as he pointed to another student holding a pair of dykes “ I wanted something like that. “ and after 15 minutes of arguing with a wall that that wasn't a wrench but a dyke he googled it and very embarrassed apologized and walked away. In this moment I panicked I knew that I could not even find peace in my home, the theater. How was I going to survive? and over the next couple of months I hated every moment of moving but during this time I did what I thought was impossible, I survived, once I realized that almost a year later I had a moment of clarity. The only way I could ever be happy in a new environment was to stop comparing to my old life. To change my way of thinking, I finally internalized what my mom had told me for years “do not get worked up about what you can not change, instead with your head held up high tell yourself you can do it.” With that inspiration, I had to move away from the safe shallows of spending time alone into the depth of living and embrace the differences. After I did this I finally become myself again after a semester of hiding in bed, I learned to let myself have friends again and I grew to love Arizona not because it was like Elsinore but because it was different. After that realization I know I have the ability to adapt and grew wherever I am planted and not only survive but thrive, I now feel I can tower over the world as long as I tell myself that I can

Maintain a Positive Attitude

Maya Terry

"We have the power to change things. We have the power to speak up, use our voice, and change things we don't believe in. Don't forget that.  You have such an amazing gift of an educated voice, use it.  Whatever you believe, speak up, stand out loud.  Because I promise you, if you think it or believe it, at least one other person thinks the same thing."
-Stacy Nadeau, Dove® Real Body Campaign Model
 
On Tuesday night, as I sat in Graham Chapel on Washington University's main campus, these words echoed and filled the room, the sound waves causing sequential vibrations of the ear drum as well as the other parts that constitute the analogy of the ear. Stimulation of hair cells in the ear would then send information and signals to the auditory nerve where these remarks would be processed by the brain's primary auditory cortex.  Just by those last two sentences alone, it is clear that I am getting a WashU education inside of the classroom.  I can wholeheartedly say that I am passionate about the psychology and neuroscience courses that I have been excelling in this first semester. But in the short time I have been here at WashU, I have learned many things that go well beyond the scope of an academic setting.  
 
Being a student at Wash U has afforded me the opportunity to listen to some amazing speakers thus far, one of them being Stacey Nadeau.  As a part of Love Your Body Week, the club Reflections, along with the Alpha Phi sorority, brought her in to talk about embracing real beauty, having been one of the 6 women in the Dove campaign that demonstrated real women with real curves.  When the campaign was introduced over 10 years ago, Dove's mission was to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening today's stereotypical view of beauty by inspiring women to take great care of themselves. According to surveys conducted by Dove, only 4% of people will admit to feeling comfortable calling themselves beautiful.  As a result of her work with Dove, Stacy Nadeau has become an ambassador for women's empowerment and has made it her life's work to travel the country, offering her expertise on women's issues, body image, and how to better your environment.
 
With every motivational presentation, there are always takeaways that can impact the ways in which you view the world and what steps can be taken to change the society in which you have been placed.  As if her commentary on the power of our voices wasn't enough, other pieces of advice have stuck with me since then: Commit to defining your own best healthy self.  Find the place where your mental health and physical self meets in the middle. Remember that fat shaming and skinny shaming are both equally as bad. Treat yourself like your own best friend.  Demand the level of love and respect you deserve.  Confidence is attractive, even in silence.  All of these messages seemed to be a culmination of all the reasons why I decided to get "self love" tattooed on my wrist. In Psych, we talk a lot about the idea of positive reinforcement.  The goal is to increase behavior by presenting specific stimuli repeatedly.  In layman's terms, one example of positive reinforcement would be the more you continue to demonstrate certain levels of optimism and self-assurance, the more these concepts will be ingrained in your mind. 
 
As if hearing Stacy Nadeau tell her story wasn't enough, the following morning I was able to meet Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist and professor at the Harvard Business School. Her TED Talk "Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are" with 37,092,646 total views and counting is the second most viewed talk of all time (click here for the link to the video).  Her 2015 book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges is a New York Times Best Seller.  While her TED Talk briefly explains some of her beliefs, I would like to emphasize her "fake it 'til you become it" mentality.  There is something known as the self affirmation theory in which you attempt to ground yourself in who you are by asking questions such as "what makes you you?" or "what are your core values?" If your #1 core value was taken away, would you still be you? 
 
While Amy's research on nonverbal behavior and power posing is fascinating, some of the most compelling arguments she made were related to her research on prejudice and discrimination.  In a conversation with her separate from her talk, she spoke to me and a friend of mine about powerlessness, stigma, and the emotional burden of race. One of the concepts she shared that immediately clicked in my head was this idea of attributional ambiguity, which describes the difficulty members of stereotyped groups may have in interpreting feedback.  This idea was substantiated by a study done at Princeton University between interracial roommate pairs.  It was found that if a black student knew up front whether their white roommate was racist, they were better off than those who had to assume and try to decipher the motives of their roommates while more often trying to prove their own worth.  I immediately recognized the attributional ambiguity in my own life.  It is the reason why I have a hard time making friends at my predominately white institution.  It is easy to stay away from the kid who proudly wears his "Make America Great Again" hat. You can make mental notes of the guys you overhear calling black women unattractive.  It is the fear of the unknown that makes meeting new people all the more difficult.  
 
Needless to say, after 24 hours of having been flooded with positivity and various ways in which I could begin to improve my best self, I felt like I was on Cloud 9.  I seemed to have forgotten all the things that I disliked about being at WashU.  In my Facebook post regarding the two events I commented, "Being able to engage in conversation with these two phenomenal women was absolutely incredible and provided me with more clarity on what role I play in this world, my identity, and what purpose I eventually plan to serve." This feeling of euphoria was unfortunately short-lived, and all it took was sitting in my Identity Literacy class for me to be brought 5 steps backwards from all the progress I thought I had made.  
 
Identity Literacy is a pilot course at WashU in which students are randomly selected in order to develop skills needed to thrive socially and professionally in diverse communities. This topic of discussion was the structural inequality of St. Louis.  Due to my large interest in public health and racial disparities, the subject matter is one of great importance to me.  Having lived in STL for about 2 months now, the issue that pains me the most is “The Delmar Divide”. Since the time I stepped on campus in late August, I have participated in two bus tours that explored “North of Delmar,” an area where WashU students are often told not to venture out. Delmar Boulevard is intriguing for many reasons. The racial divide could not be more evident—south of Delmar is 73% white and North of Delmar is 98% African American. This discernible segregation is deeply rooted in the occurrence of white flight throughout suburban St. Louis during the 1940s and 1950s. Local, state, and federal policies led to an intense concentration of blacks in certain neighborhoods and there appears to be a virtually unbreachable wall between St. Louis City and its suburbs. After seeing firsthand “the Delmar Divide,” I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that on one side there are beautiful, old, expensive homes and on the other side you can expect to see the exact opposite, a place that never found its footing. The median home value and household income varies drastically, as does the number of college degrees earned. South of Delmar continues to prosper as North of Delmar struggles with a certain kind of “plantation living.” This structural inequality impacts so many aspects of life in St. Louis such as jobs, education, health, food security, and the general quality of life.
 
The discussion we had in class discouraged me for many reasons.  The other students (who all live on my floor I might add) laughed about that one time one kid walked all the way from Downtown STL and back to WashU extremely late at night, a feat that took him about two hours.  My teacher, along with the rest of the class, talked about how dangerous his decision was and how he should have thought more about his safety.  My instructor also thought it was a good idea to share that she went 10 years living in NYC without being mugged by taking the necessary precautions of carrying "$20 of mug money" in her pocket.  One person asked if I had ever been mugged.  As a native New Yorker, I took so much offense to all of this. It is pure ignorance to believe that NYC is full of hoodlums and criminals.  But on top of that, I didn't appreciate the way in which the black, impoverished areas of STL were being regarded.  I wanted to speak out. I wanted to respond to my peers.  But as the only black person in that room, I felt silenced. I did not want to come across as the angry black girl, nor did I want to be the spokesperson for my entire race.  I knew I should have said something, especially because this was my future life work we were talking about. The conversation should have been more about how systematically fucked up the city is and what we can do as the next generation to fix it. Instead, one person contributed to the conversation by saying that he was afraid he would have to take on the city's problems as his own.  
 
Like I do in most instances when I feel like I messed up, I started to beat myself up over the fact that I sat angry and in silence.  Unlike what Stacy Nadeau urged the audience to do, I did not use the power of my educated voice to stand up for what I thought was right. I felt defeated and disappointed in the people at the university I claimed I was so proud to attend.  Later in the afternoon, I had my first official breakdown in college and started to cry.  I expressed my frustration to my mom about the entire situation.  If anyone knows how much I love quotes, it's her.  She left me with this:
 
"I have a quote of the day for you: 'Don’t lose sleep because you’re not accepted and celebrated by everyone. Don’t focus on your critics or get distracted fighting battles that don’t matter. Just keep running your race and being your best.'  I thought this quote was appropriate based on you meeting those two women. Joel Osteen said it."
 
My momma was right.  I could not let this one incident ruin the faith I had in WashU and the positive changes I planned to implement in my life.  As the title of this piece says, learn how to maintain a positive attitude even when life manages to challenge your newfound sense of empowerment.  Stay up, stay proud, and be loud if you have to.  

Power of Positive Thinking

Ryan Stanley

Hello my name is Ryan Stanley. I’m 18 years old I live in Bend, Oregon and I’m currently in my senior year at Bend Senior High School. I would like to tell you my story of how the power of positive thinking helped me get through a very hard time in my life. My sophomore year of high school my talents in baseball were trusted enough to play on the varsity team. Most sophomores play junior varsity, but my coaches wanted me to play up on the varsity team. I was so excited to play on varsity, everything that I had worked hard for paid off. At that point in my life I had never worked harder for anything. It was the most fun that I had ever had while playing a sport. The coaches were great, and my teammate were incredibly fun. Over spring break the team took a road trip to Arizona to play in a very competitive tournament. During our second game at this tournament I got my first start of the season in the field. I was incredibly nervous, it was my shot to prove to the coaches that I had the talents to keep my role as a starter. I played very well, I got on base twice and caught a ball that was almost hit over the fence that would have lost us the game. But that was the last out of the inning and we went into extra innings and won the game. I remained on varsity for the remainder of the season and started over half of our games in either right or left field.
            We were a very talented team and had a very successful season. We won a lot of games and finished 2nd in our league of 5 teams. To get a playoff birth we had to beat La Salle Prep, it was a win or go home situation. We were losing 4-5 in the bottom of the 6th inning. I was the designated hitter for this game and I stepped up to the place with 2 outs and a runner on first. I needed to get a hit to extend the game, everyone needed me to pull through. I worked a 3-1 count and on the next pitch I hit a line drive into the left center field gap. The runner stretched from 1st base to 3rd base and I ended up on 2nd base. The inning ended with my teammate and I stranded on base. In the bottom of the 7th inning with a runner on first our best hitter hit a walk off homerun to give us the win 6-5. That win sent us into the Oregon 5A playoffs and gave us the 8th seed out of 16 teams. We beat our first round opponent 8-1 and next played the number 1 ranked team at their high school. This was the biggest stage that I have ever played on. I was so excited all week for this game I could barely sleep. Finally game day came, we had a long 3 hour bus to get to the game. The game started and was scoreless through the 1st inning. We scored 2 runs in the top of the 2nd inning and we all started to feel really good about the game. Then we crumbled, they scored 9 runs in the second inning and continued to score runs through the whole game and we lost 14-4. I had 1 of few hits in that game and they had 3 of the best pitchers in the state. The season ended after that game but I still had a blast playing on that team and I was and amazing experience.
            I saw a lot of success in that season. I had a .400 batting average, had 7 stolen bases and struck out twice in a 29 game season. I couldn’t wait for the start of my junior year of baseball. I couldn’t wait to play a sport that I love and be a leader on the team and be a huge contributor to the team’s success. The whole off season my coaches told me that I needed to be ready to be a huge part of this team and bring my success from last year into this year and be a great player. I was itching for the season to start. I had the worst baseball season of my whole life. It took me 10 at bats to get a hit. I struck out more in one game than I did in the whole season my sophomore year. My coaches lost faith in me and discontinued my role as a starter. Something that I was once very good at I was now bad at and I had no idea why. I stayed after practice everyday to hit and no matter what I did I couldn’t break my slump. I was absolutely crushed. I couldn’t sleep I was upset all of baseball season. I had let everyone who believed in me down.
            The season finally ended and it was the toughest period of my life. I had never been so frustrated and had never had something effect my happiness as much as baseball did. Football had started I could not have been happier. I wanted to do something that would help me forget about baseball and just do something new. I didn’t overthink I didn’t play for the satisfactory of anyone else but myself. I just played for my enjoyment and the love of the game. I had the best season of my athletic career. I had started on both offense and defense. I had a total of 9 touchdowns, 50 tackles, led the team in receiving yards, was tied for first in tackles, and was tied for first for average rushing yards per carry. I was voted a first team all-league defensive back by other coaches in the league, and was voted a second team all-state defensive back by other coaches throughout Oregon. It an absolute blessing of a football season.
            I learned that whatever you are going through in life, whatever problems you are faced with, you have to keep fighting for the next day and think positive, because if you fight through the tough times there will be a brighter light at the end of the tunnel. Because I battled through the tough times I faced through the 3 month baseball season and had positive thoughts and got to see the brighter light of the tunnel, which was revealing my talents in the game of football. Which has recently been noticed by division III football coaches. I have my strong belief of positive thinking to thank for that. Thank you so much for listening to my story and thank you for this scholarship opportunity. 

Achievement Through Focused Progression

Donald Williams Jr.
Mercer University

The want to try and understand the reasoning behind events or lack thereof is a tricky and often unsatisfying business. It dampens the heart when we try to force an outcome but continue to fall short of that goal. It can warp ideals, burn bridges, and isolate an individual. The only way to keep such actions from happening is to focus on the things that we can control and work to make those actions our most defining. That is why I have decided to focus my life on the betterment of myself and my community. Now this might sound like an oversimplified notion but think about it. If every person worked to progress as an intellectual being and citizen while also giving their best efforts to better their community, we probably could solve every problem we have today. Without ideals and principles how do we define ourselves as people and human beings? The only way to define ourselves is through these ideals and by the decisions we make. That is why I want to be defined by a model of progression- one that not only reaches inward but also outward. I want to be a part of an ideal that looks to better what is around it and works to do so with diligence and humility. My principles for progress are what motivate me to strive for grander goals and work my hardest. I want to initiate and inspire progress in others and the only way I know how to do this is to lead by example.
            Growing up, I spent much of my life as the quiet kid who was always in his books. It really was not until high school that I actually broke out of my shell and started to become the person I am today. It wasn’t puberty or something cliché that sparked the change; it was my desire to overcome my obstacles. I had begun to place myself in programs, afterschool activities, and volunteer services that forced me to face my communication and confidence problems. Freshmen year I earned a spot on the varsity track team and became a part of JROTC. These two activities were my first step to overcoming my challenges. Track tested my communication and teamwork skills while JROTC was constantly working on my confidence as an individual. Over the course of that year, I became more outspoken and outgoing, pushing past my original barrier. I enjoyed this me new; the progress I had made was remarkable. However, I felt it was not enough; I knew that I could progress even further and so I set out to do just that.
            Sophomore year of high school, was the breakthrough year; it was the year that I joined the debate team which catapulted me into the man I am today. Being a part of the debate team was a constant critique of my knowledge, communication skills, and patience. Debate taught me that through understanding and hard work, you can overcome any obstacle or situation as long as you take the necessary steps to assess what stands in your way. This understanding was truly vital to my forward transformation of myself and my community. Sophomore year was also the year that I helped initiate a progressive program that looked to promote youth education and understanding. The program was a summer debate camp for middle school students with the focus of helping kids think critically, polish reading skills, and become more communicable young citizens. Working within this program was truly eye opening; it gave me the vision and insight necessary to understand that by being a part of this program I am not only inspiring progress in these students but also instilling in them a progressive light that they will want to share with those around them. It was mind-blowing to me; I was initiating progress in my community by focusing my mind on the progression of each student I came across. That year I progressed as a student and citizen, while also uncovering my progressive nature as a teacher and mentor.
            Moving into my Junior year of high school, I looked to focus farther on progressing myself and my community more than ever before. I took part in service activities with a focus on youth education, reaching out to programs such as Safe Kids Columbus and The Columbus Community Center. These were programs that focused on bettering the knowledgeability and learning environment for kids. The center served as a place to encourage growth and curiosity in young minds and was also a place of safety away from home. Safe Kids Columbus served as an outlet for needed equipment to be provided to kids in order to lead a healthy and active life. Moreover, within each of these activities, I tasked myself with expanding my communication skills by working with adults and children in each program learning the best ways to communicate across the board. Continuing my focus of progress, I also partook in a program called the Georgia State Superintendent Advisory Council. In this council, there were students from various counties and schools from across Georgia, all with one goal- to make Georgia education the best it could be. Within this council, I served as the advisor to the Lieutenant Governor; I was one of six other students, along with the Georgia State School Superintendent, leading discussions for change. This council proved to be an effective tool for educational progress with its ability to allow students to voice opinions of schools and counties throughout the state of Georgia. The council was a herald for success and it continues to progress and move towards creating a better school system for years to come. By keeping my mind focused on progressing as an individual and improving my community I had slowly transformed from the quiet bookworm into a man of confidence and progression working within a state council to initiate change.
            Senior year I continued my work with the Columbus Community Center and Safe Kids Columbus while also maintaining my various afterschool activities. However, this was the year I stepped out of my progressive ideal of normative education and service. What I mean by this is that senior year was the year I began to teach myself python computer programming language and began to progress in a whole new world- one of ones and zeros. I spent that whole year learning the python language, and with each new skill, I applied it to real world applications. I actually began to create encryption and decryption ciphers after sparking a curiosity in cyber security. Senior year was my bridge year; it was the year I realized that due to my progression as an individual, I was now better suited than ever to lead a life of progress and also better instill that same progression into my community.
            So, I write to you today, as a progressive community activist looking to spread the principle of focusing on what you can control and using that to progress the world into a better day. Do not let the world bring you down through its confusion; focus on producing the most impactful of legacies- one that leaves your community and the world in a better state than when you arrived. As for me, I spend my life focusing on the principle that I have control over how I progress and how I can share my progression with others. I have the aspiration to achieve today, but I have an even greater aspiration to inspire achievement in those who will lead tomorrow.  

The Power of Positive Thinking

Codie Schneck

As Swiss physiatrist, C. G. Jung, once said, “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” This has been a quote that I feel embodies my life and what I hope to become. Life for me has not exactly been a smooth sailing ship. As with most people, I have been dealt challenges and have had to overcome them. This is how I use the power of positive thinking to better my life.
            At the age of six, my youngest sister and I were taken away from our parents due to their alcoholism and lack of responsibility. The last thing my mom said to me on that fateful day was how I was a “mistake.” That was something that always stuck with me growing up and to this day.
            After being removed from my parents’ custody, my little sister and I were taken in by our eldest sister-against her husband’s wishes. From the start, my little sister and I were never really accepted by our new family. To top that, I was frustrated with my parents’ appearance of caring about their substances more than their girls.
Growing up, I was angry. It seemed like the whole world was out to get me. Life at home was not great. My sister and her husband’s marriage was deteriorating, causing my sister to follow in my parents’ footsteps with substance abuse, and her husband to resent my little sister and myself. Emotional abuse was starting to take its toll and I was trying to find my way through the chaos.
As I entered into adolescence, I began to really think about my future and I realized that those who were supposed guide me were not setting good examples of how to live a fulfilling life.   I realized how the dysfunction of the adults in my life was ruining not only their lives but the lives of those around them. I did not want to be like them. I needed to create my own destiny. I realized that the mistakes of my providers were not my fault and I could still be successful in spite of the challenges of my childhood. I had begun to change my life for the better by positive thinking. I knew that I had to stay away from alcohol. I knew that I couldn’t keep taking out my anger on the world. I had to accept that life up until that point was beyond a child’s control. With positive thinking, I could achieve a brighter future.
Still, life threw more challenges my way. While I had begun to reconnect with my father, the effects of my oldest sister’s drinking were starting to catch up with her. The woman who had raised me through the difficult years of my childhood, passed away in 2012, due to her body shutting down from alcohol and substance abuse. Even though we had our battles, she still raised me and did her best to take care of my little sister and I. Losing the woman that was for all intents and purposes, my mother, still hurt. Unfortunately, my father was not in a place to take care of me again forcing me to become more of an adult than a person my age is equipped to handle.
Through it all, I was able to graduate high school with a good GPA and a promising future. I was on the way to college with my goal of achieving a better life. Funny how life works though, just when you start to taste success, life has its way of throwing you an even more difficult challenge that tested my faith in positive thinking.
While my mother was still nowhere to be found in my life, my father had been trying his best to make up for lost time. He became my best friend. He helped make the challenges seem not so significant, with his youthful spirit and genuine care. He had quickly become one of the most important people in my life, even with his continued struggles. In 2014, my dad died. For all the improvement he was making with his life, he still struggled with alcohol. Regardless of the way that he died, it was still the greatest tragedy of my life. While my dad may not have always been there for me growing up, he had been doing his best to reconnect and I appreciated his effort. So now I was without my eldest sister, who had raised me growing up, and my father who was my best friend.
After my dad’s death, it was time for me to make serious changes. College unfortunately had taken a backseat. My life in New Jersey, with its reoccurring roadblocks, started to wear me down. I needed something new. So I followed some friends to Kansas to see if a new lifestyle brought better experiences, all while still grieving my father’s death. However, things have seemed to turn around. I’ve found a great job with people who I can call my friends, given birth to my daughter and started a family that I was never able to experience growing up. I’ve even reconnected with my mother, where we are the closest that we have been in my entire life.
Positive thinking got me through some pretty serious challenges. Positive thinking is what is motivating me to take the next step in life by going to college and hopefully giving my family and most importantly, my daughter, a better life than what I grew up with. I feel that no matter what life has thrown at me, I’ve done my best to keep my head up and have not let any of the bad things stop me from my achieving my goals. As Mr. Jung said, the challenges of my difficult past is not what will define me. What will actually define me is how I was able to respond to the challenges of life with a good spirit and continued positivity.

Namaste

Kathleen Huynh
ASU

Going to yoga on Wednesdays has not only benefited my body, but more importantly my mind. I am exceedingly timid, and I have a tendency to stress over petty things, so undoubtedly I was anxious to begin college. Reflecting over my first semester, it seems as though I have matured more in the last four months than I did in four years of high school. I am a Nursing major at Arizona State University, and I can vouch that it is extraordinarily competitive. As a freshman, I am required to maintain a 3.5 grade point average or else I lose my direct admission into the nursing school that begins my junior year. At first, that seemed frivolous; I exceeded in college level courses in high school, so I thought that I was well prepared. Little did I know, the study habits that I acquired in high school of completing assignments and showing up to class would not be sufficient for college. Strangely, in college I am required not only to regurgitate facts, but to comprehend and to become proficient in the materials presented in lectures. I quickly became avid in my studying; I wrote everything down in my planner so that I would not procrastinate, studied at various locations to stay awake, and even visited my professors during office hours to get extra help. However, I felt like I was working twice as hard as the students around me and still earning the same, or even lower grades. Towards the end of the semester, this became more and more evident to me, which in turn lowered my self esteem. The only thing I looked forward to was going to yoga with some friends every Wednesday. Between 4:45 and 4:55 we would all meet outside of the main entrance of the dorm. Huynh 2 Two walls of the room were glass and looked out to the still pool and sun setting behind the tall building of Downtown Phoenix. The scenery along with the calming background music playing made this the most relaxing place on campus. I was reluctant to attend yoga the first few times because I felt like an extra hour of studying would be more beneficial, and to be honest I had no idea what I was doing, but each week I went. Yoga was harder than I expected-- not only did I find myself sweaty after each class, but the next day I would be extremely sore. However, I slowly learned that yoga is not a group effort, but a personal effort. The instructor would stress the importance of taking breaks in child’s pose whenever necessary, but also pushed me to hold each pose an extra second longer than I thought I could. Savasana, the final pose of each yoga class, lasted between five and ten minutes long. It requires each person to lay on a mat in anatomical position, head centered, palms facing up, and feet slightly apart. While I would rest on the ground, the instructor would repeat that the class was to acknowledge our thoughts, and then draw our attention back to our breath. This position encourages focus on the present while also realizing all of the distractions of life. During Savasana, the instructor wanted the class to be aware of every part of our body, and instead of controlling a deep slow breath, we were to be conscious of our natural breathing habits. The first few times I attended yoga, this was not very easy for me. Rather, I felt annoyed and wished that the class would have simply ended ten minutes earlier. While I laid on the hard, cold floors so many thoughts raced through my mind; I wondered about how hard my tests were going to be, what the dining hall would be serving for dinner, and reminded myself not to fall asleep. By the end of the position, we were to slowly move each part of our body and then get up. When we finally exchanged “namaste” between the instructor and the class, I would be a little frustrated, but being the person I am, I couldn’t tell my Huynh 3 friends. I truly enjoyed the time spent with my friends; however, I was confused because yoga was supposed to be stress relieving, yet I felt more overwhelmed with less time to accomplish all of my tasks. As the weeks progressed, something clicked. I began to get better at holding poses, and when I finished the class, I felt relieved and lighter. For the hour that I was in the class, I centered my energy on improving my poses, and during Savasana, instead of disregarding or dwelling on reoccurring thoughts, I did exactly what the instructor said. I acknowledged the thought, but then gathered my attention to my breathing and the position of my body. I gave more power to the things that I could control at the moment, insteading of allowing the things that I could not control inhibit me from giving my all to the task in front of me. Now, if I applied this during finals week, I would have saved myself from puffy eyes and fifty dollars spent on coffee. Here was my dilemma, in order to keep my 3.5 GPA I could get a “C+” and three “A’s” or I could get two “B’s” and two “A’s.” However, I was for sure going to get a “B” in statistics, but in order to get a “B” in anatomy I had to get an “A” on the final which would be nearly impossible. Still, a little piece of me had hope; I would just study for the next two days and sleep during winter break--at least I told myself that. On Monday, after I took my ethics final, a class in which I was sure I would get an “A,” I cried for the first time in college. I walked up to my room, got in bed, hid my face from my roommate, and silently let tears stream down my face. I knew that I had failed the final, so I was going to get a “B” in the class too. This meant that my GPA would be lower than a 3.5 and I would lose my direct admission into the nursing program. While it was true that I could still be accepted into the program by taking a Huynh 4 standardized test and having competitive grades, part of me foolishly thought that I was not destined to become a nurse. I cried again during dinner in the dining hall. When my friend simply asked how finals were going I told her how worried I was about my grades, and that is when I began to cry. She then tried to comfort me by telling me it was going to be okay, but I continued to cry--not uncontrollably, but to the point that I started to make the others uncomfortable. Knowing that my pity party could last forever, my friend elaborated. “You’re going to be okay,” she said for the second time. “Stop worrying about your grades. You can’t control it. It already happened.” An awkward silence filled our group of friends with the chaotic dining hall students in the background. Her words were tough, but changed my perspective. I would just have to work harder than ever. I could not just give up and change my major that quickly. I took a bite of my dinner, took a deep breath, and changed the subject to break the tension. “I am going to be a nurse!” I thought to myself as I opened my grades the following week. Not only did I get an “A” in my ethics class, but my anatomy professor curved the class so that my “C” became a “B+.” I had earned a 3.74 GPA for the first semester of college. Today, I understand that God has a plan for me and he will equip me with everything I need to get there; all that I need to do is exert all of my attention on what is in front of me. That way, I do not exhaust my energy on what I cannot control, and in turn I will be giving my all in the things I can.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Vanessa Valdez

​Everyone knows that life is a roller coaster and that the only way of getting through it is rolling with everything in a positive state of mind. I think it is safe to say that I have always had that positive attitude no matter what happened. Just having that positivity can spread and good things can come out of bad situations.  Life is about learning and growing as a person and how you make of it. 
 So lets start from the beginning of senior year of high school, which was the most stressful year ever. It was my last year of high school, last semester to be exact, and everyone knew where he or she was going to school next year. I was playing softball at the time and was very committed to it so much that every weekend was spent at the fields from morning to night. My goal was to receive a scholarship from a school of my choosing and to have my education paid for. Now whenever we had a big tournament around the corner my parents were always on me about making sure that I wrote enough E-mails to these college scouts to come watch me perform.  As I mentioned earlier it was spring semester meaning that I already was late in the game in the “softball world” because girls my age were already committed and what not. 
 Finally I was receiving phone calls and emails from coaches who were very interested in me and I felt like I could breathe again. Everything felt like it was finally coming together until things started to get complicated with the offers. Most of these schools were Division 3 schools, which was a bit of a problem because all they can really offer is academic money. Some people say, “hey that’s great!” but in my situation my family would not be able to really afford the extra fees. Soon my options were becoming smaller and smaller and graduation was only a few months away. Throughout this process I kept trying to tell myself that something better would happen and that everything would work out. 
 Thankfully my positivity worked wonders because my father had told me that the local city college was interested in me and would like to meet. Now going into this meeting I did not know what to think because I would always tell myself I would not end up at a city college, but if this was my only option left then why not give it a chance. I sat down with the coach and my parents and I was actually surprised with myself because I loved everything this coach had to offer to me so I told her I would think about it and get back to her. About three months later I found myself attending Long Beach City College and was ready to better myself so that I could move on to the next level. 
 Now to shorten up the rest of the story my first year at Long Beach City College went pretty well and felt like the coaches had faith in me as a person and player. Because of that I was able to perform at my best and felt like I was falling in love with the game once again. Everything was going well until we got the news that we were getting a new coaching staff, which threw everyone off. All we could think about was what about going to the next level and who was going to help us and in a way we all felt betrayed. By the end of summer we had gotten our new coach and more transfer students. Nothing felt the same, but I knew I was going to have to make the best of this and show her what I had. Although we were all friends on this team we knew that we would have to fight for our positions.  The season had started and I no longer started, the faith that the other coaches had in me was not the same for this new coach and I was falling out of love for the game. I made the best of my spot in the line up and did so well my hitting average was looking better than ever. 
By the end of the year I had made the decision that I was not going to continue softball and that it was my time to hang the cleats up because it was time for me to focus on my schooling.  I applied to Grand Canyon University and received my acceptance letter and was filled with excitement because I knew that this new change in my life would benefit me in the future by studying to become a Nurse. So see positive thinking can make bad situations into the best no matter what position you are in life just remember that positivity is key. I know this may sound cheesy but if you believe in yourself and have that mind set that anything is possible, good things will come. 

An Everlasting Piano Lesson

Roya Green

Thirteen years ago my parents forced me to take piano lessons. Every week my piano teacher, Leanne, came to my house and teach me how to read music and to play the piano. Leanne was raised in a very strict family and came from a highly structured culture. Her expectations of me reflected her intense upbringings. Needless to say I spent most of my piano sessions crying due to her relentless demands and her yelling at me. This weekly year long unpleasant experience resulted in me resenting piano lessons and I stopped playing the piano before I turned five years old. Little did I know that quitting was a huge mistake. Sometimes one encounters challenging obstacles in his or her life and giving up is not always the wisest approach. Piano was my challenge because it never came easy to me. I sat in front of my piano for hours every day crying because I did not know what I was supposed to do. Later on I learned that piano was the very foundation of what came about later on in my life. Instead of giving up on a challenging math problem that I don’t know how to solve, I think back to when I started playing piano and remind myself that I am capable of figuring out the solution to it just the same way that I learned how to play piano. Playing the piano has taught me dedication, perseverance, and how to never give up.
    After about a year of taking a break from piano I decided on my own to start taking lessons again, but with a different music teacher. I never forget the day I had my first piano lesson with Ms. Allisen. The moment she stepped through the front door I sensed an aura of confidence and joy around her. Instead of telling me what to play she asked me what I wanted to play and instead of yelling at me, she made constructive comments as to how my playing could improve. Ms. Allisen taught me that piano lessons were more than just playing the correct notes. It is about playing with passion and learning that even when a song is difficult you cannot give up, you have put your whole heart into it and give it all that you have got. The lessons I learned from Ms. Allisen not only have helped me with my piano skills but also have had great value in other aspects of my life. With Ms. Allisen’s help and ten years of classes I turned into the pianist I am today.
Two years ago I began competing in pageants with the Miss America organization. In order to win a local title one must have a talent which would help her rank higher in the competition. My talent was playing the piano, with a passion. I walked onto the stage extremely nervous but my nervousness soon turned into excitement. My talent piece was called The River Flows in You, a contemporary piece composed by Yiruma. I would first play for about 8 seconds, then when there was a rest, I would turn my head and smile to the audience and judges. I soon discovered that my performance could be both entertaining and enjoyable as everyone laughed and seemed to have a great time. That night I won the title of Miss Tucson Old Pueblo’s Outstanding Teen and received the highest score in talent for the evening. I discovered that piano was more than just playing notes. It meant originality because a player has to have a unique style in order to stand out, hard work in order to master the piece, patience because not everything comes easy, dedication because one cannot be a pianist without putting forth extreme effort and more importantly, having fun all at the same time.
The piano is my best friend. Everyday after school I come home and with great enthusiasm I play the piano. It is comforting to know that whenever I need a friend my piano will always be there waiting for me in the corner of my living room. On days when I feel gloomy I return home and play a sad song such as Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig Van Beethoven. If I am happy I play a happy upbeat song such as Malaguena by Ernesto Lucia. It does not matter what mood I am in, my piano is always waiting for me like a good, loyal friend sharing my highs and lows.
My music can tell you more about me than I ever will. My love of volunteerism, and my compassion for helping others will always come out while I am performing. I love playing piano and love sharing my music with others. Once every couple of months I set aside an hour or two and go visit nursing homes and play piano for the residents living there. My favorite memory is when I played Somewhere over the Rainbow and one of the residents started singing along to the song. She was immediately joined by everyone else who started singing as well and the room filled with the voices of one hundred jolly people. If I have learned anything from playing piano at nursing homes it is that people love the gift of music and it is important for everyone to have a little music in their lives.
In the end piano has taught me a lot. Originality, patience, hard work, dedication, compassion and joy. With every practice I strive to become a better musician.  With the stroke of each key, a little bit of stress gets taken away from me. Through playing the piano, I connect with others at a deeper level. I am able to share my feelings with other individuals and hope that they enjoy listening to me playing the music as much as I enjoy playing it for them. I am grateful for having been introduced to piano at such a young age and I cannot imagine my life had I not re-started lessons despite my fears and frustrations. Afterall a lesson can be just a lesson or it can be a lifelong experience that will carry you throughout past, present and future.

Positive Thinking

Kasun Daundasekara
​ASU

When I found this scholarship, and read the topics that could be written about, I was immediately propelled to share my story about my journey from a poor family in Sri Lanka to being an ASU college student in the United States. The topic required in this essay is the exact thing that has kept me motivated and inspired to not give up: The Power of Positive Thinking. I was born in a small town, Marassana, Sri Lanka, a small Indian Island south of Asia. Both of my parents were teacher. My mother an art teacher at a local girl’s school and my father taught math. I feel like my parents being educators helped me seek to study and better my education and myself; not only for me, but for them as well. But seeing my family struggle, I knew I wanted more. I knew I wanted to be able to uproot my family from the poverty we had lived our entire life, and I knew I possessed what was needed to make it happen; my mind. Even when my parents would return from long days of teaching, their earnings were so little that they were barely able to purchase the essentials for our family. Growing up, I would see the struggle and anguish on my dad’s face as he greeted my mom who waited anxiously for him to return with money so she could go to the market and buy rice and lentils for us to eat. My mother always dreamed of cooking us delicious and intricate meals, but with such a small amount of money to provide for five people’s meals, she had to settle for the basics. I knew that when I was old enough, I wanted to give my mother the beautiful silk clothes and spices she desire, and I knew it was possible. I knew I had what it took to make a difference in mine and my families lives; my thoughts. So, I started planning for my future. In the evenings, after I finished school, I would carry water for elderly widowed woman, assist in feeding and taming injured wildlife at a local animal shelter, and do handy man work around the village. I would save the few rupees I could earn here and there for a bigger and better purpose; something I had always dreamed of, and something I knew would give me the opportunities to make the difference in the lives of my family that I had always imagined – coming to the United States to study. After completing college with exemplary exam grades, I applied for a student visa to travel to the United States. I was given priority due to my hard work, and shown dedication to my studies. I applied to begin my college studies at Los Angeles City College in California. I wanted to pursue an engineering degree. While I was granted some scholarships to help pay for my education, I was still required to work 50 hours per week to pay for housing, food and books. I took a job at a local gas station working the night shifts from 4pm until 3am. The tuition for out of country students was extremely high, and working more than full time in addition to my work schedule took a toll on me badly. I was forced to move out of my apartment and could no longer afford my vehicle, but still I paid for and attended my classes. For a long period of time, I was homeless and my only means of shelter was the gas station where I worked at night. I struggled to buy food and attend classes without sleeping. Often I studied outside only by the light of the street lamps. Life was extremely difficult, and I was forced to drop my course load twice. But still, I carried forward. Even though I was sad and depressed, I knew I had what it took to complete my studies and I wasn’t about to let that stop me from trying. Kasun Daundasekara December 24, 2016 As exhausting as handling a full course load was and working more than full time, one thing continued to propel me forward – the power of my positive thoughts and knowing that anything was attainable if I put my mind to it. And I did it. On my third attempt to complete my coursework, maintained a 3.5 GPA throughout my freshman and sophomore semesters and in addition to working more than full time, I tutored students in Chemistry and Physics. Beyond the small amount of money that I was compensated for my assistance, I wanted to instill motivation and inspire other students to truly appreciate the opportunity to better yourself. I became the top tutor and struggled to keep up with the demand for my assistance. It took a toll on me physically and mentally, but I never stopped. Now I am a junior biomedical engineering student at Arizona State University and now, more than ever, I lean on the power of my mind and being positive to lead me through life. I have learned that life has many obstacles that will hinder you financially, economically, physically; all of which you cannot control. However, life can never affect the power you have over yourself. The power of being positive.

Focusing On Things You Can Control

Anne Marie Gregory
​Delta State University

This past October I celebrated my four-year anniversary as the director of Greenwood Leflore Recycling, a municipal recycling center located in Greenwood, Mississippi. Although I have made the decision to follow my dream and go back to school to become a Registered Dietitian, I look back on these past four years as perhaps the most formative time in my life thus far. In what was my first full-time job as an adult, I learned many lessons about a variety of topics, but the one thing they all have in common is that they resulted from my focusing on the things that I could control. Management For a twenty-five year old woman who had just moved to Mississippi from Portland, Oregon to take her first job, the prospect of managing employees caused a lot of worry initially. Over the past four years, I have supervised five different employees. All five were men and four of them were older than me, which complicated the situation. One of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make was when I had to have my first two employees arrested and fired from their jobs after I caught them in an ongoing stealing operation while working for me. Soon after, my third employee fell on hard times financially and abruptly made the decision to quit his job so he could cash out his retirement savings in order to pay his debts. I tried to counsel him into staying, offering to help him figure out his financial situation, but he had already made up his mind. In each of the aforementioned scenarios, I had to reach the conclusion that the specifics of each situation were out of my control. I could not control the fact that my first two employees had been stealing from the recycling center continually for more than a year. I could not control the decisions that my third employee had made to cause him financial distress. The only thing I could control was my ability to hire new employees to fill the vacancies, and in so doing, I was able to bring two new men on board, both of whom have proven their worth to the organization because they are trustworthy, have good communication skills, and follow through on their job responsibilities. By focusing on the things I could control with relation to management of people, I was able to grow the business through outreach into the business community and in the local schools system. I used good management techniques to encourage them to be better employees. I tried to be a positive role model, praised them for doing good work, and did not micromanage them. I think my approach paid off for both of them, as well we as Greenwood Leflore Recycling. Organization When I received a $400,000 grant for Greenwood Leflore Recycling, I was tasked to create and implement a residential curbside recycling program for the City of Greenwood. At first, I was nervous about the responsibility of creating something new from scratch. I knew that in order to do my job correctly, I would have to be organized, and that to be organized, I would have to focus on the skills I could control. In retrospect, by adopting this mindset early on, I do not think I could have done any better. I decided to implement a pilot program in a small neighborhood first and to add additional neighborhoods as demand increased. When we first started collecting curbside bins, I knew it would be important not to make many mistakes so that residents would not get frustrated or confused. The first month, I personally rode on the back of the recycling truck with my employees so we could make sure we did not miss any households, and that we picked up only the things we accepted at the recycling center. It has now been almost two years and because we were organized from the outset, we have had very few missed pickups and even fewer resident complaints. After I fully turned the curbside route over to my two efficient employees, I realized how much I missed it and how much fun it was to start the new program. I learned through experience that organization is really about focusing on the things you can control. Public Speaking Along with the estimated 75% of women who have a fear of public speaking, I was terrified at the thought of having to make public speeches when I first took my job as recycling director. In fact, public speaking gave me so much anxiety that in college, the ability to opt out of the introductory speech course was one of the reasons I decided to major in nutrition! In my first month on the job, however, I was invited to speak at the local Rotary Club along with the public works director and the city clerk. I rode to the meeting with the public works director, who was formerly a schoolteacher, and she told me how nervous she was about the presentation. I remember being perplexed that she was nervous about speaking among peers when she spoke to classrooms full of high schoolers every day at her previous job. To my benefit, I did really well at my first public speaking event and surprisingly even enjoyed it, especially the questions at the end. Looking back, I realize that focusing on the things I could control, like having an in-depth knowledge of the topic at hand and getting a good night’s sleep the night before the presentation, makes all the difference between a good speech and a bad one. Since that first presentation to the Greenwood Rotary Club, I have spoken at dozens of events, civic club meetings, city council meetings and in classrooms from kindergarten all the way through high school. I even presented an hour-long workshop at the state recycling conference in 2014. And although I probably did mediocre compared to others, I was able to conquer my biggest speaking fear by presenting a combined middle and high school assembly on environmental sustainability at the local private academy. Through all of these speaking engagements, I have learned that public speaking is like a roller coaster for me due to the nerves that I fight each time I am preparing a presentation. I am always thrilled when it is over and proud of my ability to meet the challenge. I do my best public speaking when I am able to focus on the things I can control, and not worry about the things I cannot. Conclusion By focusing on the things I could control in my first job, I learned some universal lessons that are sure to transfer to my new career as a dietitian. I look forward to strengthening my management, organization, and public speaking skills in my new field of nutrition.

Statement of Purpose

Chen Chen
Zhejiang University, China


Over the years, I have gained a profound appreciation for the field of Electrical Engineering, not only for its marvelous capability of ensuring engineering wonders, or the promising prospective in my career path, but for its unshackling of my social restraints as a “typical” girl. For this, I am eternally grateful, and therefore I will express my gratitude during a lifelong career in this field. To do so, I will require the most advanced professional training offered by a top university, and Arizona State University is my best choice. I realized my strong interest in electrical engineering in my freshmen year in college. Behaving like a “typical” girl during my first 18 years of life, I acted within the confines of the stereotype for girls in China—talented in arts, language and social science but insulated from engineering. That was why I chose to major in management at the beginning of my college life. However, accidentally, I stumbled into a lecture on wireless charging, completely rewriting my perception of electrical engineering. I thought it was amazing that such a technology can save me from finding and distinguishing the right cable for my cell phone, MP4 and digital camera. This small accident rerouted my entire bearing in life, as I steered towards a career in electrical engineering. A romantic beginning was always wondrous, but to reach a happy ending, hard efforts had to be made. To realize my dream, I prepared myself to overcome countless challenges. The first problem I had to deal with was changing my major. After a full semester of hard efforts, I achieved a GPA of 3.87, ranking 1/160 in my college. As a result, I became one of only two management majors to transfer to the College of Electrical Engineering and Automation. After this, I started to enjoy courses covering the fundamentals of mathematics and electrical engineering. I truly enjoyed acquiring knowledge related to my dream, but classroom learning was not enough. The opportunity revealed itself in my sophomore year, when I participated in the Student Innovation Training Program (SITP) and designed a blind spot reminder system. My motive of designing this rearview mirror blind spot detector came from seeing cats hiding under cars for heat in wintertime. When the cars started, cats were in a blind spot, and many of them perished under such circumstances. Therefore, I designed a system using an infrared detection technology to solve the problem above. The detection range can adaptively change with the speed of cars. I also accomplished a publication titled "Design of rearview mirror blind spot alert system based on the infrared technology" in Electronic Design Engineering (Chinese Core Journals) in my junior year. This project allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of this discipline. App Reference #: 892071 CHEN CHEN Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering - PHD [email protected] Fall 2017 2 Through these trainings, my motivation shifted from its interest derived from initial and sped towards a true fascination in academic research. I focused more on practical measures to solve problems that arose in real life, making use of my knowledge and experience in engineering to innovatively attempt in developing solutions by modulating projects, constructing systems, searching through literature and building models. I realized that this is how technological advancement is propelled. I was also alerted in the sense that further academic training is needed for me to become a true electrical engineer. Henceforth, I went on further studied Circuits and Systems in graduate school at Zhejiang University. During my three years of graduate education, I participated in a multitude ofscientific research projects in Prof. Helenian’s laboratory. These projects allowed me to craft out benevolent qualities for scientific research, namely perseverance and executability. Initially, as the only girl in the lab, I was presumed as the weakest link. I aggressively began to alter the views of my coworkers by engaging in intense study and research. Taking advantage of my thirst for knowledge and my desire for genuine creations of practicality, I was on an accelerated path for engineering achievements. After three years of concentrated study and research, I have managed to sharpen my acumen for research. Currently, my research interests include power management integrated circuits, power converter topologies and lowpower analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits. AC-DC converters: I have designed a primary side control LED driver with a novel constant current control mechanism. The driver employs two integrated cascaded power MOSFETs to detect the demagnetization time. Thus, the driver requires no auxiliary winding. The proposed architecture of my original design is capable of detecting the demagnetization time with high precision and realize precise output current by adapting the charging and discharging module. The proposed scheme has been verified through simulation. The demagnetization time detection error is less than 0.2% and the average output current precision is within +4.7%. Subsequently, I published “A Constant Current LED Driver Based on Flyback Structure with Novel Primary Side Control” at the International SoC Design Conference. IEEE, 2015 (EI cited). Ultralow power: The majority of my three years in graduate school was devoted to research in the conservation of power consumption. In order to improve the efficiency of energy conversion, I worked on designing power management modules with low power consumption and high stability. As a result, I succeeded in designing an ultralow power LDO with no off-chip capacitor 1.5V output and 1.5 mA output current. It consumes less than 881nA quiescent current with 2V to 4V supply. The chip has been App Reference #: 892071 CHEN CHEN Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering - PHD [email protected] Fall 2017 3 taped out and it provides high stability during line and load regulation without off-chip load capacitors. The line regulation is 10.417mV/V and load regulation is 1.780mV/mA. The maximum overshoot and undershoot under a 3.3V supply are less than 95 mV for full load current changes within 100ns edge time, and the recovery time is less than 800ns. During this period, I was met with many difficulties, such as how to ensure the power MOSFET be properly turned off under a no-load condition; how to prevent the amplifier from losing gain while turning off the power MOSFET; how to reduce level shifter latency and ensure no current leakage during different voltage levels switch. Moreover, reducing the dropout and increasing the PSRR was also part of my consideration. To clear these issues, I dived into a sea of literature, designed many circuits and eventually kept the static flow within 881nA, substantially lower than the power usage of existing designs in literature. A publication “an Ultra LowPower Capacitor-less Low-Dropout Regulator” on the Journal of Zhejiang University (Engineering Science, EI cited) was soon published. Daily laboratory work not only consolidated my independent research abilities, but also taught me to persist and explore. Besides experiments, the weekly journal club and work report were also important elements of my scientific training. Laboratory-held scientific lectures provided me with plenty of opportunities to communicate with top scientists and science researchers. This type of experience helped me grasp more professional knowledge, absorb design experiences, while at the same time, enhancing my own ability to express my thoughts with logic and clarity. Besides the academic field, there were several things that helped shape my personality. Three hours of practice on the Pipa, the Chinese lute, a day earned me the various awards in competitions, channeling my diligence towards success. Furthermore, as the manager and lead dancer of the Latin dance team of Zhejiang University, I arranged weekly training sessions, invited professional teachers to improve our dancing skills to deliver excellent performances on campus. It was not an easy task to arrange a proper time to fit everyone’s schedule. These various experiences improved my communication and organization skills, both of which benefitted me in my study and work. These experiences shaped my optimal habits in scientific research and I hope to continue my research in IC. Should the opportunity reveal itself, I hope to participate in relevant research in analog and mixed-signal integrated circuit. I am also interested in bioinformatics, mixed-signal integrated circuits for bioelectronics, and low-power sensor and seek to conduct further research during my pursuit for my doctorate if the chance arose. After graduation, I plan to secure a position as a researcher in App Reference #: 892071 CHEN CHEN Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering - PHD [email protected] Fall 2017 4 academia. In my opinion, electrical engineering is not merely consisted of theoretical formulas and simulations, but is an actual applicable science that takes heavy roles in our daily lives. In order to facilitate this objective, I feel the urge to obtain more skills and knowledge. With little doubt, the Arizona State University is my best choice: it not only has beautiful scenery, but it can also provide me with a higher perspective to view tasks, and to simplify them. Besides, Arizona State University wins global reputation for its excellent faculties and talent students in ECEE department and U.S. News & World Report named ASU the “Most Innovative School” of all colleges and universities in America. I have a strong desire to become a member of this great university, so that I may devote my personal efforts to achieve great accomplishments and contribute to the technological advancement of our entire civilization.

Attitude of Gratitude

Angel Coronado
ASU

My name is Angel Antonio Ogaldes Coronado, and I will be writing my essay on the attitude of gratitude. I was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and I come from a family of ten children. I graduated with honors from Red Mountain High School in May 2002, I was the first of the ten children to graduate from high school. And I was the first to attend a university in Fall of 2002, although I did not graduate my parents were still proud. With life moving and changing I had to leave school and get a job to help support my family. Now I am thirty-three years old and I am back in school. I know finishing school is something I must do not only for me but for my parents that have done so much for me. My mother came to the states at the age of eighteen from Guatemala to better her life. My father is a Native American form the Yaqui Tribe in Tempe, Arizona. Tempe, Arizona is also where my mother and father met and started their lives together. My parents had their children and decided to move to Mesa, Arizona as there are better schools and a higher chance of their children attending college. I have so much to be grateful for all that my parents have done for me, although both my parents only have a high school education they saw so much more potential for their children. When I look back on the things my parents have done for me, I feel like I could never repay them back. Growing up in a household with so many children was not as easy as one may think. My parents were always working hard to ensure we had food to eat. There were days where my parents would not eat to make sure there was food for their kids to eat. Most night dinner was nothing more than beans and rice. But, although it was not much, mother always cooked with love and her heart that meant more to me than anything in this world. Until this day she is still this way on my birthday, always making my favorite dinner which is spicy red chili meat, rice and beans. It may seem like a simple meal but it always reminds me of my childhood birthdays and still makes me warm and sometimes even brings a tear to my eyes. I have learned that it is not what someone can buy or how much money they can spend on you. It is more that, it is about a person willing to take time out of their day, a person that is willing to stop what they are doing to help you. A mothers love is just that no matter how busy her life is, I know that she will always be there to pick up the phone or even drive over to make sure that everything is okay. I try to live by these simple principles each day. I know that when I have my children I will do the same and show them what my mother has taught me in this life as well. Going back to school was a very hard decision I had to make. I had a great career with Bank of America as Operation Project Analyst. I was with Bank of America for nine years where I entered as associate on the phones to collect on past due accounts and over the years I worked my way up to management. People always say “why would you leave your job to go back to school?” yes, I was able to accomplish a lot with just a High School Diploma, but going to back to school is so much more to me than just a diploma. I decided to go back to school to be able to advance in my future career, a personal achievement knowing I was able to get thru college, and lastly as a thank you to my parents to show my gratitude for all they have sacrificed for me in this lifetime. So with that being said I put in my two notice and applied for Arizona State University. I am a full time student at Arizona State University, where I am pursing a degree in Global Logistics Management. My current GPA at Arizona State University is 4.08. With this degree not only do I want to better myself, I want to be able to support my family in a big way. I know I can change the world and the way it trades and this degree would give me that opportunity to do that. I want to thank you for considering me for this scholarship that will help me to achieve my ultimate goal of graduating from Arizona State University, bettering myself, and making my parents proud.

Achieve More

Gianfranco Filice

When I was in the seventh grade, my mother was diagnosed with stage-four stomach cancer. I was 12 years old at the time and had no idea what that diagnosis meant or what the treatment would entail, but in hindsight, it’s clear that this experience changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined.
 
As my mother began the seemingly insurmountable task of fighting an aggressive form of metastatic gastric cancer; chemotherapy treatments, hospital stays, laboratory tests, and medications became just as much a part of our family as my sisters and me. Her prognosis was bleak at best and the more the disease afflicted my mother, the more I began to realize how fragile life could be. That idea—that life is fragile and more fleeting than I could truly comprehend—taught me that I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to make a difference in the world. I channeled all the grief and fear that I felt about my mother’s diagnosis into an unwavering drive to make a difference in the lives of those who are most in need; to be a voice for those who feel as if they are without one. Enter Ripple, a social-good clothing company that I started as an eighth grader that directly impacts the lives of the disenfranchised.
 
Ripple is based on the idea that people should be able to use their purchase power as a means to achieve social good. We facilitate this goal by collaborating with international charities; the charities receive a portion of our profits from the sale of our originally designed clothing in exchange for a particular metric. For example, for every 500 shirts sold, we can provide a water well for a village in a rural area; for every sweater we sell, we can provide 1 month of education to a child in Uganda. Through our efforts thus far, we’ve established a water-well in Haryana Village, India, provided emergency meals for 500 children, and funded 60 hours of service-dog training to individuals with disabilities. Customers receive fashionable and high-quality clothing while having the satisfaction of knowing that their purchase has made a difference in the life of someone in need.
 
The experience of founding and running Ripple over the past four years has taught me invaluable lessons that are integral to the man I have become. One of the first steps towards the success of the company was recruiting a team of my friends to help come up with creative ideas that would benefit those in need. As eighth graders, we didn’t fully appreciate all that would be required. We spent the next eight months devouring every business book we could find, which eventually lead to a 45-page business plan. I learned about teamwork and leadership, resolving interpersonal conflict, and the importance of basic business skills. These lessons have helped me develop valuable interpersonal skills, sound business acumen, and a strong work ethic; qualities that have allowed me to excel in business, in the classroom, and in my personal life.
 
My mother’s incredible strength, and will to beat her cancer, has inspired me to never give up in the face of adversity. Throughout the process of starting a business, I’ve gained a greater understanding of the importance of perseverance and adaptation on a smaller scale. I’ve lost track of the number of unanswered phone calls, ineffective sales pitches, and denied funding requests I made before finally gaining some financial traction. Moreover, the original vision for the company was to establish ourselves as a nonprofit organization. This direction proved to be a dead-end after countless hours spent filling out IRS forms to obtain 501(c)3 (charity) status, only to realize that our structure wouldn’t qualify. Yet, working with my team, pro-bono lawyers and business mentors to overcome obstacle after obstacle has helped make Ripple what it is today. 
 
The most humbling experience surrounding Ripple was developing my start-up costs fundraiser. After years of work, I launched Ripple using a social-networking fundraising platform called Kickstarter. I presented my Kickstarter page to every class at my high school and was featured in a local publication. On our first attempt, we had only raised $2,250 out of the $15,000 that we had set as our goal. Failing to obtain funding had been one of my biggest fears prior to launch. But we pressed forward, made some changes to our strategy, re-launched on Kickstarter one month later with a $5,000 goal, and achieved that goal in less than two weeks. Seeing my greatest fear materialize, and being able to overcome it, reinforced my belief that failure is just a part of the process toward success.
 
Today, our small team of junior high friends has grown into something significant. We now have an international team of designers and strategists, including brand development specialists from Canada as well as graphic designers and marketing experts from Europe. We’ve even created a company video showcasing Ripple’s background story, the journey, and all of the products that we’ve developed. Our success has also allowed me to become the youngest member in the history of my local Chamber of Commerce; an accomplishment I am incredibly proud of.
 
It is through the relentless approach that I adopted in starting Ripple that I’ve learned to transcend my skills and drive to the opportunities at Stanford University. For example, I am currently a research and development coordinator for the Drew Endy Bioengineering Laboratory. Within that lab, I am working with a team of engineers on the development of a robotic pipetting machine for medical research using computer science, mechanical engineering, and product design. The goal of the machine is to provide a device that not only prevents scientists from being prone to carpal tunnel but in fact, augments pipetting and experiment iterations. In the future, this device can indirectly be a factor that increases the speed at which life-saving cures for illnesses are found. It is through this interdisciplinary research position that has allowed me to see how my own talents and skills can be applied to a product with a massive potential to change the world.
 
In addition to my research role, I’ve also had the chance to become an officer for the Society for Latino Engineers (SOLE). Within my role, I’ve had the chance to play a part in addressing the overwhelming lack of diversity in technical roles in major companies. Currently, I work as the frosh director of professionalism in which I am communicating with various Fortune 100 companies and startups to see how they can mentor those within in our group to succeed in the future. In addition, SOLE works to mentor rising high school seniors with limited resources on how they too can attend renowned universities. One of the more meaningful opportunities through SOLE has been the privilege of seeing Hispanic engineers receive job offerings and internship opportunities from organizations I had personally contacted. As with Ripple, SOLE has reaffirmed that being result-oriented in a field that impacts others will always be a priority to me.
 
Lastly, given my entrepreneurial interests, Stanford has afforded me the chance to see my ideas blossom. I decided to take my idea for a financial technology startup called Abi, and recruit co-founders. After many pitches and some discouragement, I found a first-year MBA and a third-year PhD electrical engineering student who have as much enthusiasm behind my idea as I do. The idea for Abi is to develop an algorithmic-based investment platform for college students and millennials. Using machine learning, we plan to understand a client’s cash flow from their checking account, and from analyzing their spending and income patterns, determining an unnoticeable, but progressive amount of money that can be deducted from their account each week and put into an investment account on their behalf. The goal of Abi is to help create a platform that requires no change of behavior while currently building their financial literacy and outlook as they head toward retirement. Ultimately, the goal for this company is to become a social leader in assisting clients achieve financial freedom through unconscious investing and saving, most specifically in developing countries.
 
The lessons I’ve learned over the course of my mother’s illness and my experiences with Ripple have allowed me to discovered that my passion is, plainly stated, to help those who are most in need. Using positive thinking, and the law of attraction, I’ve use my setbacks and obstacles to make my dreams a reality. At Stanford, I’ve been given the opportunities and resources to turn that manifested my goals and visualization. I aspire to utilize my education to further develop the skills required to become a successful, dynamic business leader and culturally competent practitioner of international development. Using the same principles of the law of attraction that helped me get to where I am today, I plan to continue to utilize those practices to make a positive difference in the world. I will strive to become adept in all the pertinent fields, including business management, economics, political science, social justice, public health, and international relations. Through this process, I aim to learn how to make businesses succeed in a way that makes a positive impact on the world and inspires others to do the same.

Personal Development

Madiha Charania
Georgia State University

As an ambitious senior at Georgia State University pursuing a dual major in finance and accounting, I plan to start a career in investment banking. In the past, I had been dealing with a lot of stress juggling with maintaining a stellar GPA, part-time jobs and fully funding college tuition and expenses. Additionally, I was constantly debating if investment banking will be a viable career option in the future given the work-life balance. Despite knowing that stress is not good for health, I had inevitable become stress reactive, and it took a toll on my mental and physical health. Therefore, I decided to be proactive and looked for videos on YouTube for relaxation techniques and alleviating stress from day-to-day chores.
Upon conducting an extensive research, I was able to find videos posted by the Buddhist Society, and the lectures conducted by a monk, Ajahn Brahm to be inspirational and valuable to lead a harmonious and a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle allows an individual to realize their goals and aspirations without worrying about the uncertainty that the future holds. Mr. Brahm’s lectures focused on the importance of living in the present moment without having the need to worry about things that are beyond one’s control. This healthy lifestyle-to live to the fullest in the present being is now incorporated in my life philosophy.
Previously, as soon as I woke up in the mornings, I would reach out for my phone to check for any unattended emails and messages. I began the day with a feeling of urgency to reply back to all the emails and efficiently planning ahead for the day to become more productive. In doing so, I was neglecting the need to have a healthy lifestyle. I spent barely any time with my friends and family and had completely isolated myself with external surroundings. I believed that hanging out with friends would deviate me from reaching my career goals. Also, I had given up a sense of present mind and was always occupied with thinking about solving an obstacle likely to occur in the future.
After watching several sessions of Mr. Brahm during the last spring break, I have an entirely different perspective of life. I wake up in the morning and put my phone in my bag without checking for any emails. Instead, I set up an alarm for five minutes in the morning to meditate. In my meditation, I focus on being mindful. I close my eyes to the chirping of the birds, the touch of the morning breeze and the warmth of the rays of the sun.
In that moment of surrendering to the beauty of nature, I would indulge in an act of gratitude. The ability to enjoy life with the confusion it holds. I was able to get reaffirmation that the uncertainty will eventually make sense. There is no way that I can plan for events in the future. I learned that future events are beyond my reach and the only thing that I can exert control over is the present. I started appreciating the love and support of my friends and family. I became actively engaged in my community and was motivated to serve the community altruistically.
Now, I take pride in every walk of life. My career ambitions are still the same; I still aspire to become a financial analyst at a Bulge Bracket firm after completing my education at Georgia State University. I am particularly interested in mergers and acquisitions sector of investment banking. This area mainly comprises of performing valuations to determine the present value of the company and seeking additional capital required. The company has various options of raising money to fund mergers and acquisitions. These include issuing fixed-income capital such as bonds or by initial public offerings (IPO) in the stock market. The analyst has to conduct research before suggesting the company about a feasible option to generate money. The work is intriguing because of its detail-oriented nature. I am fascinated to find the best possible alternative to raise funds for the company.
 However, the path that I have paved for myself is significantly different from my previous approach. Being present and alert has allowed me to be more productive and connect with other people. I am no longer clouded with thoughts about doubts.
I have learned a valuable lesson to extend care to the community without expecting anything in return. Now, after fully understanding the meaning of life, I feel obligated to inspire other capable students to reach their full potential. I want them to realize that stressing and being overly aggressive will not bring then any closer to their dreams. The only way that they will achieve their goals is by having an affirmative mindset and working diligently towards that goal by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

Focusing On Things You Can Control

Philip Cavello

My father is a Sicilian combat veteran from Brooklyn and my mother is an immigrant from El Salvador. The disparity of their backgrounds are immeasurable, but their lives have impacted me greatly. They divorced when I was 3, but their relationship is unbelievably strong. I lived in a diverse environment, speaking different languages and existing in polar opposite lifestyles. The dichotomy molded me and influenced my character, perspective and state of being. Under my father’s roof, I endured a military-style upbringing-but the love was apparent. I was encouraged to play sports and excel in my academics. I am competitive in nature, and achieving was always my aspiration. However, certain events have caused me to falter, but I now understand that the duty of each human is to delegate their time for the advancement of the species and if no one holds you responsible, it is imperative that you do so.
            When I was sixteen my father was stricken by Guillain-Barre syndrome, an inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nerves, and he became paralyzed within weeks, and the healing process still persists today. I didn’t tell my mother; and I felt utterly alone- going to school, practice, studying, cooking meals, and tending to my father whom was in the hospital. My father was in shambles, but I remained strong, and will-power kept us going and time helped soothe our wounds. My drive is enthralled by this experience, for he far exceeded the doctor’s expectations; and I intend to demonstrate equal determination in life. Obstacles will always emerge and life isn’t idealistic; however, I have the power to choose my reaction.
             During the application process, for my undergraduate studies, I always had football in mind, and the University of Redlands presented the best of both worlds: academics and athletics. My yin and yang was seemingly omnipresent until I tore my acl, mcl and broke my knee cap; obliterating my chances of continuing to play football. I was devastated, for my life revolved around two different pursuits and one was lost forever. I lost the yang to my yin, and my chosen response, in retrospect, was undoubtedly poor. I fell to the whims of depression, numbed my pain by partying and ignored my responsibilities. I had too much freedom, and it was a terrifying concept.  However the rigid road of college wasn’t over, my best friend took a leave of absence and suddenly died from an overdose. Emotionally distraught and astounded, this traumatic event pierced my soul. I was taught to hide my feelings, but this couldn’t be repressed. I tried to evade the issue and I hibernated in my room; avoiding class and confrontation. In retrospect, this was a dreadful decision, but my closest friend was the first person I knew to die. I came back the next few semesters to persevere, but I didn’t have closure nor did I deal with my depression- I was bound to fail.
            I ended my tenure at the University of Redlands with mixed emotions, but that opened the door for recovery. I conferred with loved ones and I accepted my circumstances. It was time to begin anew, and I dedicated the last year to finishing my degree and realizing my purpose. As an English major, I was always passionate about writing, reading, manifesting new interpretations and expressing ideas. I could pinpoint details and construct an entirely new implication. Everything has an underlying meaning that is awaiting to be understood, and life presents us with specific points of reference; and our responsibility is to grasp its value.  
My life has provided me a multitude of lessons, and I am shaped by my hardships, but life is predicated upon the efforts we sacrifice for the future. I am severely concerned of the direction humanity is headed, and legal education will provide me a platform to express my ideas, participate with the political sphere and hold people responsible. This affinity to venture for truth among varying perceptions is quite an endeavor, but I am determined to face opposition and engage in a nurturing environment that encourages challenge. With proper preparation anyone can improve their odds for achievement, and law school cultivates excellency.
Coming from a diverse background with various life experiences, I can contribute a new element into your School of Law. I can speak and understand three languages, and I’ve been exposed to a wide range of economic classes. My communication skills, along with my sense of understanding are dynamics that will improve the classroom discussion.  I firmly believe to reconcile tensions and conflicts among parties, an equal bridge of communication should be instituted first. I am a first-generation college student whose mom emigrated here and my dream to become a lawyer is as grand as hers was to come here. I come from my family who is willing to change, and I want to reflect that nature upon the world. I have eradicated all the distractions and I am compelled to provide another virtuous dynamic to society by taking hold of what I can control- my future. 

Focusing On Things You Can Control

Filip Mikijelj

     I’ve never felt more out of control of my life as I did when I landed this past August at the Phoenix International Airport.  I was in a new country, away from everything familiar, wondering what the future holds. I pondered what college was going to be like – Who would I meet? What would my classes be like? Would I meet the expectations required of me as a student? It was exciting and a bit frightening at the same time. At the same time, I also felt a great sense of accomplishment! It was a huge opportunity for me to be able to study in the United States at an amazing school like Arizona State University. Feeling overwhelmed, I decided that the best thing for me to do was take a deep breath and manage one thing at the time.
     Attending college in the United States is a really big deal for me. I am from Montenegro, a beautiful eastern European country, where my family’s heritage goes back to the Sixth Century. Montenegro is a wonderful place to live and offers many benefits, however, it is not the best place for opportunity for someone my age.  Coming from a southern city in the country as small as Montenegro doesn’t give you many options. People rarely leave, and if they do it is to move to a neighboring country. No one ever goes to the United States of America to study, partly because it is so expensive and partly because no one wants to sacrifice the comfort and safety of what they are used to.  This was more than just an opportunity for me, however, it represents the chance to change my entire life. With my family’s love and support behind me, I knew that I had to embrace whatever was ahead of me with courage and conviction.
     I knew that my first year of college was not going to be easy for either me or my family. I was prepared for the difficult academics but it was hard for me to be away from my parents and my little brother for so long. It was also difficult for my family because of the financial sacrifice they had to make to pay my tuition. I knew there was nothing I could do to make that part better besides honoring their belief in my learning and academic performance the only way I knew how:  by getting involved in everything I could and working as hard as I possibly can in my classes to achieve the best grades possible. I decided to focus only on the positive and focus on things I can accomplish that will better me. I joined Enactus, an entrepreneurship club, as well as the ASU Men’s Water Polo Club Team. I also volunteered as a goalkeeper coach for the Mesa Water Polo Club. I knew that being part of clubs and volunteering, in addition to my academic studies, would allow me to meet more people with a similar mindset and make friends and connections.
     As the fall semester began, I soon realized that for many students it was not a priority to do well in their classes but rather their interests were more from a social. It was quite surprising to me because I didn’t understand how these students could spend so much money on their education but didn’t seem to be taking it seriously in preparing for their future. It was confusing because when I arrived here I had a clear path to follow, but I was soon caught off guard by all these new ideas from people around me. I think every young person wants to make a lot of friends and have fun but I had to remind myself that any of that is immediate gratification and in the end, it is not worth it. I believe that everyone needs a balance between their social life and work, but priorities are priorities, I have found it is always better to sacrifice some things now because in future it’s going to pay off ten times as much.
       This philosophy of focusing on the things I can control has really paid off for me.  I received A’s in all my courses for the semester and ended with a 4.03 GPA. Additionally, I had the opportunity to work ahead in my math class and I finished all of my work and took my exam nearly 2 months before the semester ended.  This freed up a lot of time for me to work and study more on some of my more difficult courses. I also quickly learned to tap into the resources available to me on campus, such as the libraries and tutoring. It was a lot of work but I knew that if I started out my college career successfully, it would help me in the future as my course load becomes more challenging.  Most of all, I wanted to show my parents respect and gratitude for the sacrifices they have made for me to be able to attend college at ASU. They were both very proud of my grades and accomplishments and shared it with our family and friends in Montenegro. I can never express to them how grateful I am for this opportunity, but I definitely can control how it reflects in the work I am doing in my classes and in my attitude.

Strive & Challenge

Brittany Matassa
​ASU

As the first scholarship I looked into, this seems to be the one that was waiting for me. I strive to live my life by the examples of Achievement Today’s personal development principles. These axioms all go hand in hand. The Law of Attraction forces you to think positively, assuming you want positive outcomes in your life. Once you understand the Law of Attraction, you grasp the things you can control, and recognize the things that are out of your control and how to face those elements. As both a yogi and yoga instructor, I feel an obligation to be a role model and source of inspiration to those around me. And, happily, I will take on that challenge any day! Let us put an emphasis on the words “strive” and “challenge.” I am only human. I err. I slack. I falter. I achieve. I guide. I prevail. Sometimes I feel mentally and physically unwell. My bed in my only sanctity, the lights stay off, I shut myself in; days become nights, and I become exhausted with the world. Sometimes, I cannot see the light on the horizon through this dense mental fog. However, through training, experience, breathwork, and a magnitude of mental strength, I can make it to the next day. Then the next. And the next. What do I have control of in these disheartening times? I know my body and mind work in cycles. I know these feelings will pass and the light will shine. I trust my breath, as the vehicle that carries my health, my happiness, and my sanity. In elementary school, my health education teacher had us breathe through a straw for one minute (a minute in the life of a cigarette smoker). While it may not have been obvious at the time, this is something that stuck with me like a splinter. At the time, I felt overwhelmed and terrified (and to this day, I have never touched a cigarette for fear of this feeling). This was my first lesson that gave me a glimpse of the gratitude I had for my body, especially my lungs, and the beauty of each inhale and exhale they allowed me. Later on in life, formally learning breathwork and the importance of proper breathing has been the most valuable tool that I keep with me. For example, noticing a simple clench of the jaw and shortness of breath allows me to take a step back and observe both my body and mind. It helps me to recognize moments of stress versus moments of relaxation. It allows me transform stressful moments into quiet bliss. This past month, I have been with both of my grandparent’s as they took their last breaths only twelve days apart from one another. As their souls have moved on, each deep breath I take, I am reminded that I am inhaling the same air that they have exhaled. It is the closest I will ever feel to being with them again. Once more, it was my respiration that converted the gale winds into a calming zephyr. Inhale, take it all in. Everything. Notice your thoughts, notice your feelings. How do you feel mentally? Physically? Spiritually? Think to yourself, “isn’t that interesting?” Exhale. Forget it all. Detach yourself from those thoughts or feelings. Inhale all the stars in the universe, drink it up. Pause. Hold it. Exhale, get rid of all the toxins, all the negativity. Pause, start fresh. Once a person can control his or her thoughts, he or she can start to truly gain control of life. A simple breathing exercise can be the vector to start one’s journey of controlling the abundant thoughts running through his or her mind. Controlled respiration has helped in all aspects of my life, from allowing me to, dare I say, feel euphoric when faced with the momentous obstacle of depression, to helping me fall asleep and wake up when necessary. Our breaths are our gift of life and the greatest thing about it: it is under each individual’s control. As Earth exhales, I inhale. As I exhale, Earth inhales. I am pursuing a Master’s degree in Biomimicry (if you have not heard of it, it is the future. Check it out!). I look forward to all the program has to offer me and cannot wait to share my future education with the world. Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to learning more about Achieve Today

You Catch More Flies With Honey

Haile Skuza

​My mother use to always tell me growing up that “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” I never knew what she actually meant until I got older. I always thought it sounded crazy. “Really mom? More flies with honey. Do flies even eat honey? Makes zero sense”, this was my thought every time she told me that as a youth. She would always tell me this when I was acting bratty or ungrateful. But now, I catch myself saying it all the time (and believing it), whether it be to my co-workers, step children, niece, nephew, pretty much whoever is listening. I like to believe my mother’s infamous words and her acts of kindness shaped the person I am today.
            I wasn’t always positive. I’ve been through rough patches in my life, as we all have. In those times I couldn’t imagine there was light at the end of the tunnel. But, it was years of heart-ache, mixed emotions, stress, and bad decisions that led me on my path to positive thinking. I know it probably sounds weird, but my negativity and bad attitude eventually made me see the light. I simply woke up, did my morning routine and looked myself in the mirror and asked “is this how you want to feel the rest of your days?” My answer was no. I was tired of feeling run down, tired, negative. I was tired of feeling like Charlie Brown and Eeyore combined with a twist of Stewie Griffin. I was tired of the dark cloud I thought was following me waiting to spill rain on me. It was exhausting to carry such a heavy weight, to constantly be at battle, to be on edge. I was done. It was hard at first. I would wake up singing a sun shiny tune, then something would happen and I would resort back to the old way of thinking. This went on for a while and I battled myself. I read self-help books, went to counseling, and took anger management courses. Anything I could do to stop feeling the way I did.
            I don’t claim to be a ray of sunshine all the time, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel, even in a dark hour. I think that is what gets me through the tough times. Those tacos may not have been as tasty as I wanted, but I had a wonderful time catching up with friends. People may get fired from their jobs, but who is to say there isn’t something better out there. When one door closes, another one opens up. I keep these thoughts in the back of my mind. If I was to be bummed about the not so good tacos, it would have affected the good time with my friends. So instead of dwelling on the tacos, I try to concentrate on the good company.
            Back to my mom’s theory of the honey. She was onto something, I can see that now. About six years ago, I was promoted to supervisor of my department. I had been with the company for quite some time and I was good at my job, if I do say so myself. I was brand new to a position of authority. I only knew how to do my job, not how to run the department. So my thoughts weren’t so positive. I was discouraged. My team was all over the place, unorganized with no direction. I turned to my boss and asked her how she was so successful in running a department. How did she make the employees listen to and respect her? She explained to me the same as my mom, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. There it was again and decades later. She explained in more depth than my mom had ever done. She explained that everyone has a different personality and each needs to be treated differently in order for them to hear you out. Some people need a pat on the back, some people need a stern voice, and some people need a joke. People take to others who are kind and that are willing to work with them and take the time to understand. So she suggested having a meeting and laying out some rules and ask for suggestions. It’s beneficial to make the group feel included. So, I did and it worked. I was polite when I asked them to complete a task. I took the time for suggestions. I came in with surprises some times to let them know I appreciated them. We were a well-oiled machine and could conquer any task that was thrown at us and all because we were positive. We believed in ourselves, in each other.
            Though, I have moved on to another job, I still believe in those ethics. I may not be the supervisor, but I still do believe in the power of positivity. If I’m excited about a project, then maybe, just maybe, someone may catch on and be excited with me. It only takes a spark to start a fire. 

The Power of Positive Thinking

Elyse Pozniak​

​The mind is a vast realm where the famous “what if” statements are played out, memories are revisited, and the future is dreamt of. Carrie Fisher, one who was exceptionally respected and idolized by most, had just passed away. Carrie had a mental illness. She empowered herself to not let her mental illness consume her and take her ability to control her life away. She publicly admitted she had a mental illness, long before mental illnesses were even a topic of conversation. Due to her ability to find the silver lining in her situation, she stood tall, held held high, and showed America she was not ashamed of her illness. The strength it takes to openly admit anything personal, especially pertaining to something not widely accepted by social norms, is moving. Included in her public announcement, she told her mental illness to, “bring it on”. Carrie showed ample confidence and ​a heroic sense of mental strength.​ When speaking with others, Carrie would reassure those who had a mental illness in a laughing manner, “you can lead a normal life, whatever that is”. Her lightheartedness on such a degrading topic proves how she was able to overlook the negative facts, and be at peace with the cards she was dealt. The simple statement Carrie would tell others, largely depicts how out-of-this-world her life literally was. Although she passed away, she expressed she wanted her death to be reported, “I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra”. Although she was dying in darkness, she still had her light. She was facing a hellish time, but she still was positive through it to the best of her abilities. Her mental illness did consume her, but it is not her death we are focusing on, it is the journey she took throughout her illness which highlights who Carrie Fisher was and the life she lead. Rather than sulking in your own misery about a situation most hardly ever encounter or have to deal with, you can still live the life you want. Living one’s life all depends on one’s perspective of their situation and how they react or deal with the downfalls. Charles R. Swindoll lead the famous quote, “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”. Carrie proved Charles words to America; her mental illness played an extensive part in how she came to terms about her life and how notable it was for her to not let her illness make a front-page burden on her. Life gets the best of us, but throughout her days, Carrie always chose to look at the silver lining in her situations, and through her positive thinking, she created the life of her dreams and ironically, a life others wanted. The power of positive thinking can make one’s life more valuable. Not only does positive thinking make one more attractive to be around and be known as beautiful minded, but it makes one’s life so much more worth living. Thinking positively offers one so much more of the world. Although it is necessary to see negative facts of the world, to be aware of what is happening, it is undoubtedly more essential to find silver linings in situations that are not satisfactory. Life throws many curve balls, and it is up to one to be powerful enough in their own mind to overcome the strikes of the game in a humble and positive way. Some would think it is child’s play to be positive, but for those who have poor habits of dwelling on the negatives facts of life, have a prolonged road of personal development ahead of them. There is everlasting room for growth of one’s personal development, but not all growth is a cinch to achieve. For one person, it may be easy for them to overcome a situation, but for another person, they may struggle beyond compare. It is key to help those who seek for guidance and be their silver lining in their time of darkness. A kind heart is not always the joyous person, but rather, a kind heart is always the most thoughtful and encouraging one. Treating others in a positive way travels measures farther than words can account for. A simple compliment, smile, or wave can turn someone’s day around for the better, all at the cost of a few seconds of one’s time. By having a positive mind, one sees the world as a much brighter and better place than others. Radiating positive vibes is contagious, it is addictive, and it spreads faster than media reporters chasing after a possible headline story. Focusing on the negative is a dark, deep, downward spiral that is nearly impossible to climb out of. Seeing how critical it is to maintain a positive attitude and mind, I try to only surround myself with positive people. Maintaining a positive mindset can work wonders not only for one personally, but for those around them. My positiveness has a healthy impact on my mother, and during my fall semester at Arizona State University, she sent me a generous care package along with a letter. Inscribed in the letter she wrote, “...continue to spread sunshine wherever you go”. I believe this to be one of the most commendable compliments one can give to another. She described my positive thinking as spreading sunshine and with that, it is remarkably true. One who has a positive mind, radiates like the sun, shining bright for all those around. People are remembered by their character and the way they carry themselves; being remembered as someone who “spreads their sunshine wherever they go” or “drowned in moonlight” is a positive way to be thought of once you have left.

Life

Manon Goodrich

​As I fell to the floor on stage during one of the most challenging ballet performances of my life, and I felt that excruciatingly painful “pop” in my knee, I suddenly knew my dance career was never going to be the same. This reality struck even more severely when I realized I could not walk, straiten, or bend my knee without unbearable pain. “Will it be better by the end of the week in time for my competitions and dance festivals coming up?” I kept asking myself, even though I knew something drastic just took place in my leg. * Rewind to six months prior. * I am finally getting noticed in my ballet school, finally being chosen by world renowned choreographers to star in their original works, and I can finally spot a professional ballet career ahead of me. Life is looking good. I’m the best dancer in my studio. People want to be like me.  * Fast forward back to the day of that life changing performance. * My parents are in the audience. My ballet director is about to move me up to the highest level. The young dancers look up to me and tell me good luck. But suddenly I find myself in the hospital emergency room with a torn lateral meniscus and find out I have to get 1/3 of my knee’s cartilage surgically taken out. As months passed by after this devastating day, I knew I would never be able to dance like I had been dancing before this show. With limited range of motion in my knee, areas where it is bone on bone, and a claim from the doctor that I will struggle with arthritis for the rest of my life as well as require multiple knee replacements, I contemplated quitting dance altogether. One doctor told me to never jump again. This is when I realized I had been living in a fantasy world most of my life. I was finally being forced to take a step back and actually live and cope with reality.
            I soon graduated from High School and realized that I now had no chance of becoming a professional ballet dancer, so I needed to figure out what else to do. I went to the local community college and began to take fun dance classes such as jazz. This was the first time I began enjoying dance without trying to achieve something. I did it for fun and without pressure on myself. I soon transferred to Arizona State University. I was tempted to become an English major, something far from dance. But in the community college dance class I remembered why I originally started dancing at the age of five. Dance is part of my soul. It’s part of what defines me. It gives me life when doing it for the sole purpose of enjoyment. This caused me to try again. I am currently a dance major at ASU, but I am not the same dancer that I was when in high school. I no longer perform on pointe, I no longer take four dance classes a day, I no longer am incredibly skinny, and I no longer have 20 hours a week of rehearsals. But I am equally as valid of a dancer. I now dance for myself. I now dance because it is what brings me joy. I dance to bless others. I now dance because I am grateful for the body I have been blessed with. Around the time of my knee surgery, a cousin of mine was diagnosed with lupus and became paralyzed. When I visited her in the hospital, I assumed I was going to bless her. The roles were actually reversed. She was one of the most positive people I have ever met. She was not depressed at all; in fact, she was the happiest I had ever seen her. She was the one who made my day better. She told me: “this gives me an opportunity to bless the nurses and do all the good things I can while in this hospital.” Even though she is still stuck in a home with invalids, she continues to bless and change the lives of the people who come to see her. Who am I to complain that I have knee issues when some people do not have legs? Who am I to complain when I am going to college and some people are not able to afford college? Who am I to complain when I live in a world of second chances and am able to dance even if in a different way than I originally thought I would be? Who am I to complain when I have an incredible support system in my parents and colleagues?
After growing up in a strict ballet school, I realized that I had not appreciated the simple gifts in my life and did not have an attitude of gratitude for a healthy functioning body. At Arizona State, the dance students learn a lot about finding integration every moment of every day with the earth, our surroundings, and with people. I learned that to really live, one must get off that constant treadmill of stress that leads to the future, when where we are in the moment is the most important thing to focus on. I realized that we choose how we live our life. Every day we either decide to be grateful for everything surrounding us, or we can decide to allow our trials to overtake us. Our attitude reflects what kind of person we are. I decided to make connections with people whenever possible because that is what life is about. When I put on a positive attitude, it rubs off on others and they become joyful. I made it a goal for myself to bless somebody every day by giving them a compliment or encouraging word. I truly believe my knee injury led me here and allowed me to come to this conclusion. The traumatic experience of my knee giving out mid-performance was necessary for me to change what I found truly important. Sometimes our trials lead to victories, but we need an open mind and open heart in order to reach those victories. 

Focusing On Things You Can Control

Rebecca Cleek

​I want to make philanthropic work a vital component of my every day by exemplifying our call to give back, help others, and be the best example of kindness and mercy in our world today. For this reason, I hope to intertwine my professional knowledge and abilities with my personal mission of alleviating physical and financial challenges for handicap individuals, strengthening a person’s self-worth and confidence, supporting the rise of female entrepreneurship, and encouraging diversity in education. With the right drive and the right focus on things I can control, I believe this dream can become a reality.
Upon acquiring my MBA and professional engineering license, I plan to use my financial management and project planning skills to start my own company where I will produce lighter, less expensive, 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for injured veterans and low-income families. Most prosthetics cost upwards of $10,000 and undergo significant wear and tear throughout their life span, making them impractical for many individuals to purchase and replace when outgrown, or damaged. 3D printing is a faster, more cost effective alternative that allows us to customize the prosthetic to fit any individual's limbs and print it within hours, at a fraction of the cost. By making prosthetic limbs more affordable, more individuals will have access to the necessary care they deserve and will be able to sustain a more empowered, independent lifestyle. My central goal is to positively impact someone's life and I believe building a purpose-driven business is the first step to achieving this dream.
With this business, I aspire to change a life for the better, whether it is through donating a prosthetic hand to a soldier injured in battle or encouraging the scholastic pursuit of men and women in the business and STEM related fields. I want to pave the road forward and lead an example of tolerance and respect for all patients, students, and individuals. This passion is fueled by my own experience and setbacks as a mechanical engineer and now MBA student. I encountered countless situations where peers and professors marginalized my ideas, made me feel inadequate, and fostered an environment of disrespect simply because I was different. I want to create a better tomorrow for professional men and women, so that they never have to encounter the same obstacles that discouraged me throughout my education. I would like to empower students to pursue what they love and rise above the harmful beliefs and stereotypes that label people as less than human or far worth their value as a person.
My involvement in Cookeville United Methodist Church, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Society of Women Engineers has allowed me to mentor young students in after-school programs and help foster acceptance and respect for all students in their academic pursuits. Through this experience, I realized that representation is everything in an industry where you are a vast minority.  By starting my own business and succeeding in engineering and management, I want young scholars to realize that the science and business professions are achievable for not just a select few, but for everyone. This dream is open to all budding, creative intellectuals from any demographic who simply seek to make a difference. We need diverse thinkers and problem-solvers because they are the solutions to the many complex, difficult problems in our world today. I want to broaden this spectrum. And I want my business to be the fundamental building block to this life goal.  Thank you for your consideration and opportunity to be an instrument in aiding others. 

My Life

Angela Mackie​

​Life was rough in the Foster system. I was taken from my mom at seven years of age and never returned. It was also at this time that we started 2nd grade. Because we had never been to school, there was concern we would be behind. The school set up remedial classes for us but by the end of the first month I was reading on a college level. This sparked my enthusiasm for education and information early on. When I graduated high school, I chose Southern University A&M in Baton Rouge. I started as a social work major for obvious reasons. I began experiencing delayed onset PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression from the trauma suffered in and of foster care. I began to drink and fell into abusive relationships with men. My beloved son was later born. He gave me the inspiration to pull myself together. I began self-healing after my daughter was born using yoga, herbs, and other natural healing methods. I realized that I majored in Medical Science since high school but I loss confidence. I, now, practice healing art forms to help others.  I am also a trained doula. I have been called to be a nurse-midwife and to help decrease the infant mortality rate in African American communities while giving black & impoverished mothers more holistic birthing experiences and educating aspiring midwives in indigent communities.  There is a local nursing program where I can complete my pre-nursing studies. Afterward, I will attend the Nurse-Midwifery program at Frontier University. As an orphan, I have had no family contribution as while in college so this scholarship is appreciated.

Focusing on Things You Can Control

Vanessa Porea

Learning to focus on things I can control has been one of the most difficult lessons I have had to learn in my life. From a young age, I was considered a perfectionist. I attempted to set up my life in a way that I thought would prove to be successful by the standards of what I saw around me. My parents are successful, my brother is successful, and I was not going to be the exception. I was determined to tell life what to do, not let life happen for me.
                The period of my life that I really attempted to gain control was right after graduating high school. I was determined to keep my high school relationship going because, after five years, I was convinced that this was going to be it. After all, how else would I be married in my early twenties and have a child by 25? I was determined to also be successful in business, earning at least one or two promotions by the time I had to take maternity leave for the child I thought I would have at this point. In order to accomplish this, I was working 30+ hours at Victoria’s Secret and working on my Bachelor’s full time. In addition to my job and school, I also took on yearlong internship with Taubman Centers working in the marketing department at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets. I was convinced that I was on the right path and had made all the right decisions. When I graduated in 2011 with a 3.6 GPA, internship experience, and a solid work history, I was sure that everything was going to fall into place. Then reality hit. As much as I had been focused on planning what life was going to be, I forgot that life had its own plans and these were plans I could not control.
                As perfect as my life looked on the outside, it was anything but perfect on the inside. All of the compliments and praise that people gave me and my parents could not fix the self-destruction that I was holding onto internally. While remaining successful, at least on paper, in all of the above mentioned areas, struggles my parents had tried to address when I was younger had taken control of my life. Although undiagnosed at this time, we would learn later that I was struggling with untreated Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar II. The relationship that I was convinced would end in marriage had instead ended in a messy break-up. I was self-medicating and using self-harm behaviors to function in the stressful and demanding life that I had built in order to be “successful.” I was utilizing eating disorder behaviors in order obtain that “perfect” image that I was trying to obtain. Everything behind the scenes was a mess, but the outside looked successful. In my mind, I was in control of my life and I would be successful.
                When I could not find a full-time job after graduation and was instead working two part-time jobs, I considered myself to be failing. This was not what I had envisioned my life to be and this certainly was not what I had planned for. The longer I was working two jobs, the more I lost control and the less I considered myself to be successful. By the time that I landed a full-time job, I felt so defeated that suicide truly seemed like my most logical option. If I could not control my life, I did not want any part of it. When I share my story publicly, I often get asked how I could go from being so successful to considering suicide in about a year. The answer is not a simple one and it can be really hard to explain without understanding how Borderline Personality Disorder can swing you from one extreme to the other with no middle ground. You are either successful or you are not. You are either in control or you are not. People are either good or bad. You do not see yourself as a person with good and bad qualities, but instead as a person who is either good or bad. In my mind, I was bad. I was failing at life and there was no point to it anymore. I felt that, no matter how hard I tried to make the right things happen, I was letting my family down.
                It was April of 2013 when I was first confronted with the idea of focusing only on the things that I could control and letting go of the things I could not. After everything in my life had seemingly fallen apart, I ended up checking into Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Lemont, IL. For the first couple of weeks, I still clung to the idea that I was in control. I was the perfect resident. I ate my meals, I went to group, I told my treatment team just enough to make it seem like I was trying (only to later find out they knew all along that it was not the whole truth), and I followed all the rules on lodge. But the more people pushed me, the more I started to realize I was not the one in control anymore. Things changed when I began to realize that I had signed the majority of my freedoms away and that my treatment team was truly in control at this moment. Sure, I was an adult and I could sign myself out, but the idea of going back to having to live life seemed equally unappealing. I finally “broke” one day when I was sick of being told what I was going to eat. You see, when you check in with an eating disorder, you get assigned an eating disorder specialist. Until you are deemed well enough to begin making the decisions with them, they make the decisions. I was done with having them control what I was eating and after fighting with a worker in the dining hall one morning, I threw my tray on the floor because at that point, that somehow seemed logical. I proceeded to refuse to eat breakfast and went to my next group where I sat in the corner and cried the entire time. After the group ended, the leader of the group, Meghan, sent the other girls back to lodge. She walked over to the corner I was sitting in and sat next to me on the floor. I internally rolled my eyes thinking to myself, “Here we go, another adult who is going to try to tell me how everything is going to be ok.” I had every intention of ignoring Meghan until she just sat there in silence with a box of tissues. When I finally started to calm down, mainly out of curiosity as to why she was not trying to make me talk, I looked up at her and she simply held out the tissues. As I took one, she gave me a small smile and said, “You have a case of the fuck-its. It’s going to be ok, you don’t have to do this alone.” It has been three years and I still remember that moment and those words as if it just happened this morning. It was in that moment that Meghan turned my attention to the fact that maybe I was not going to be able to stay in control and do this alone. More importantly, maybe I did not have to. Meghan, along with my eating disorder specialist, Amy, became my rocks during the time I was at Timberline Knolls. Although my treatment team also consisted of other members, including an individual therapist, Meghan and Amy had shown me repeatedly that I could let go of control and trust others to stand with me.
                In the three months I was at Timberline Knolls, I had to learn to surrender. I had to learn to give up that control. Like a child, I had to hand everything over to the “adults” and trust that they were going steer me in the right direction. As I progressed, I was slowly given more and more of my life back. It was in these moments that I had to learn what parts I could control and what parts I needed to accept and embrace as they were. To some people, something as simple as looking in a mirror or getting dressed may not evoke feelings of fear, but for someone who is used to attempting to control the world around her, even these things can be difficult. I had to let go of my eating disorder behaviors and learn that my body was my body – it was not something I could control. I could not control the actions or reactions of those around me, instead I had to learn to control my own actions and reactions. With the help of my treatment team and the staff at Timberline Knolls, I began to learn to take responsibility for what I was able to control and work to let go of the rest, no matter how difficult that may be.
                Learning to focus on what I can control has helped me to get to where I am today. Despite hitting rock bottom, something that was out of my control at that point, I have learned to embrace the fact that the only thing I can truly control is how I move forward. As I sit here writing this, I have almost four years in recovery. Addiction and mental illnesses are not cured like strep throat or eventually clear up like the common cold – this is something I will deal with my entire life. Knowing this, I choose to embrace the fact that there are aspects I can control. I can control the fact that I take my medications as prescribed. I can control the fact that I meet with my treatment team as needed. I can control the fact that despite the fact that I work a full time job and maintain a full time course load in grad school, I must carve out time to meet weekly with my therapist and attend boxing sessions with a trainer five or six times a week in order to maintain that sense of empowerment and physical health. I can control a schedule that allows me, in the majority of situations, to maintain the meal plan that Amy helped me build and to get enough sleep to allow my mind and body to function at their best. I can control the people that I am surrounded by, the people I let into my world on a regular basis. There are still a lot of situations that I cannot control – situations that are not a result of anything personal, rather a result of living a human life. If I gave over that power, I could be easily consumed by these situations and the uncertainties of life. Instead, I choose to focus on the areas I can control, both those listed above and various others.
As I was getting ready to leave Timberline Knolls, Amy told me that no matter what happened, all that mattered is that I chose to make the next right decision. Walking out into a world of unknowns, making the next right decision in the face of whatever was thrown at me is truly the only thing I am in control of

Personal Development

Jinha Chung

I have never done any sort of physical exercise whatsoever in the last four and a half years of my life. Sports became wearisome after realizing that I was not the most athletic kid among my peers. I also gave up school work because I learned that the less effort I put in, the easier my life became. However, I have been persistently working out three hours a day, despite how much I want to give up, and I have 4.15 GPA in Arizona State University’s well-known undergraduate Business program. I would love to share my story about the power of positive thinking that raised a weak-willed teenager into a patient adult.
I used to live in Kingston, Ontario where physical activities are much more encouraged to students than any school in my home country: South Korea. I was passionate and almost egoistic about swimming and basketball, which I performed most well at among the various sports activities I often enjoyed. Consequently, I had physical advantage over my peers when I came back to South Korea. They seemed like easy opponents to me until around eighth grade when their bodies started to outgrow mine due to puberty and some of their athletic talents started to reveal as they grew. I practiced everyday to regain my superiority but every time we played a game of basketball, they stood out instead of me. I was sorrowful by the fact that I could not overcome them no matter how much I put my heart and soul into; it was meaningless. Therefore, I eventually lost interest in physical activities.
Meanwhile, my school grades dropped along with my ambition in sports. Schools in South Korea has adopted ranking system instead of letter grades like the US and every school has two main exams every semester without an exception. I started middle school strong with the midterm ranking of eighth among nearly 240 people, making into the top three percent. On the finals of that same year, I received twelfth place with significantly less effort. Hence I realized that it takes unnecessarily excessive amount of stress to achieve a higher ranking, but it does not require much effort to receive a satisfactory one. My ranking gradually dropped exam by exam. To make matters worse, emotional wounds from my peers at school overlapped, so I completely lost interest in school life. I slept through classes more and more frequently. I have even received the lowest ranking in the entire school. My pride and self-esteem were at their lowest and I even had suicidal thoughts. I assumed there was no way out of that inferior life. As a result, I became extremely pessimistic and hated the world which trapped myself under the situation.
While I was drowning in despair, a life-changing opportunity merged that I did not recognize at the time. I thought it was just an emergency exit of my miserable life, a way to escape. With the financial support from my parents, I started a new life in the US, the land of opportunity. I started going to a high school in Tucson, Arizona as a junior. It was unspeakably tough at first. I had to live on the other side of the globe where the environment is completely different, with a couple of strangers whom I had never met before. I had no choice but to accept their household, including their rules on usage of electronic devices and mealtimes. Furthermore, I was forced to adapt to the exceedingly unfamiliar school system. The school was in the form of a campus, students moved around classrooms from period to period, and the majority of school work involved electronic media. Life there was the polar opposite of what I was used to.
My first host family was a couple in their 40’s. It was uncomfortable but peaceful for the first couple of weeks. All of sudden, we received a warning letter from my exchange program agency that supervised us, mostly me. The letter stated that I was failing some of my classes and I could no longer remain in the program if I do not maintain each of my grades above C. It was a shock for me because I thought I completed everything informed during the classes. It turned out that some assignments are posted online rather than being announced by teachers in their classes. My host family got mad and restrained my freedom. They limited my usage of electronic devices and forced me to write down my daily tasks in a notebook after asking around the school to ascertain how assignments were given and what they were. I suffocated due to the pressure from my hosts and the agency. I desperately wanted to run away exactly like how I came to the country. However, I could not let that happen for the second time, knowing how much hope my parents had for me to start a new life and the amount of money they spent on the program. It was our last hope and I needed to step up my game. I decided to change my behavior, attitude, way of thinking, and consequently, my life-style. Thereafter, I started deeming school work as nutrient for my future career instead of useless burden. I confirmed the assignments with my teachers at the end of the classes respectively and checked the assignment website daily. I studied for quizzes and exams and prepared for projects. As a result, my grades successfully improved to As. It was arduous but definitely satisfactory and worthy. I remembered what it was like to give something my best and to think positively.
I attended another year of high school in the US as a senior with a different agency, two years in total. Homestay still was not easy even after reconstructing my work ethics; I encountered conflicts outside of school regarding to the host families. Since I was the one living off them, it was unquestionable that I had to be the one to adjust. However, my first agency handled the documents poorly, so I had to change my host family three times, living in five different households over two years. I was to follow a few new overly strict rules, from my perspective, by the host families every time I moved into another household. For instance, one of them required me to stay in my room after a certain time at night and another expected me to watch television shows in the living room before going to bed; these are just the tip of the iceberg. Also, the host families and each of the members’ characteristics varied. I was left with no choice but to adjust myself to each personality, some of them too different from me and the others less. There were numerous times that I wanted to give up. I missed my family, friends, and culture. Nevertheless, I endured by opposing the weakening thoughts with positivity and persistently went on my way. In the end, I was able to put on my cap and gown and return home proudly with unforgettable memories.
Currently, I am attending W.P.Carey School of Business of Arizona State University, one of the most reputable business undergraduate program in the US. I do not give up easily anymore due to the worthwhile experience. I am steadily and incrementally working towards my dream of being in the field of business and living a happy life. This is the power of positive thinking that flipped my life from torment to aspiration.

Focusing On Things You Can Control

Quimirr Heyward
​​
         Now as hard as it to admit, this very important law to follow in life didn't come as easy to me. In fact, I'm still working on it. Throughout my childhood, I was constantly placed into these circumstances where there are multiple things that are just wrong, and things that a child should not have to go through. To name just a few, there were times when we had no place to live, the lights were cut off, and my mom lacked the financial means to properly take care of four kids on her own. I was the only male in the house, and I am the oldest of four siblings. Even though I was still a young child, for some reason I naturally felt like there were things that I, just a little boy at the time, had the responsibility to do. As unrealistic as it sounds, these “responsibilities” ranged from me wanting to help my mom out with bills, make sure we had a place to live, and helping to raise my little sisters. For obvious reasons I couldn't do these things, so when it came apparent to me, I used to feel helpless, and a false sense of guilt as if I failed my mother and sisters and let them down. This false feeling of guilt, shame, and pain carried all the way into my teenage years. Instead of putting all of my focus on school, athletics, and other activities that the average teenager should enjoy, I was always worried about problems I had no control over. Amongst my worries were things like my young sisters who didn't live with me anymore at the time, was my mom going to mess up and lose the house, and what were steps my mother was taking to ensure that the bills were paid, and other things of that nature. I was so worried about circumstances I had no control over, and the life of others, that I started to lose track of my own. Of course it's easy to say, “Hey! don't worry about that because you can't change it”, but when it's your immediate family it's very difficult to think like that at such a young age. Because of this, I oftentimes felt depressed and lonely because, I was constantly worrying about situations I completely had no control over. I was done with having this feeling of hopelessness, so I started to search for the answers of how to combat these issues in my life. Around my senior year when I started reading books like, “The 48 Laws of Power”, and started talking to very knowledgeable people, I learned about the power of concentrating one's forces on the direct things that are in front of you, and the things that are ultimately in your control. I learned that when you apply your energy to the problems that you can control, you have a tighter grip on life and the circumstances around you. At first, the idea of turning my back on my mother and sisters draped over me. This in itself was hard to deal with because, I know the feeling of being left behind, and the last people I would've wanted to transfer that feeling to was my loved ones. As tough as it was, I eventually realized I had to get over this thought, and constantly worked on concentrating on the circumstances I could control. I would immerse myself in the simple things like making sure my schoolwork was done, and maintaining a job to support my needs. I wasn't living with my mother at the time. There were times where I forcibly had to stop keeping communication with her because, I knew there was always bad news, and I didn't want to throw myself off track by getting too worried and emotional about things that were out of my grasp. After months and months of doing this, I noticed that my life started to make positive changes. My grades improved, I started making new friends, became happier, and got accepted into college. Applying the important principle of focusing on the problems that I could control was tremendously a factor in all of this. It taught me the important concept that although we can't control others, we have the power to control our own lives, and to live prosperous. Learning and applying this lesson continues to be very important to me because, there are still problems to this day that I just can't do too much about. Instead of risking losing my focus by trying to intervene with other people's problems, and leaving myself frustrated, I am still learning that it's best to simply just give my advice, and leave it up to God to do the rest. This keeps me focused on what I need to do, and the problems that I have to solve myself. Due to the fact that I am currently a college student, I have to be extremely focused on my schoolwork and the multitude of tasks at hand. I don't have much support to fall back on, so I work hard to strategically eliminate any distractions that have the potential to slow me down, and throw me off track, even if it's my own family. I learned that when I focus very hard on the situations that are in front of me and in my control, I feel more in control, because I am! The law of focusing on things that I can control literally saved my life. I went from feeling sorry about myself, to being one of the first people in my family to attend college, and be in the Honors Society! Although there are still situations within my family I would give anything to change, I know that I can't worry about them because I simply don't have the power to change them. This law of concentrating your forces,  and focusing on things you can control, is a vital law to follow, and I plan to apply and teach this as long as I live.

Positive Thinking & The Ability to Walk

Melissa Hunt

​It’s something people always say in bad situations: “Just think positively!” This isn’t always met with a positive response however, but there is truth behind it. I have witnessed first-hand how the power of positive thinking can have positive impact on myself and the lives of others. In order to accurately express the extent to which positive thinking can affect and individual, I will tell the story of how I learned to walk for the second time.
                Beginning with my early days as an infant waddling around the house, I always walked on my toes. At first it was cute, or so says my mother, but it grew old fast. Soon enough I was twelve years old and it was causing me some pain. I was put in casts for six weeks, but they were glow in the dark so I didn’t mind them. Those helped for years, but eventually the pain came back and quickly got worse. When I was 19 I saw a specialist who determined that my Achilles tendons were too short to walk normally. And as an added bonus, those short tendons had been rubbing on my heels for years and caused a Haglund deformity. Put simply, my x-ray looked like I had two huge spikes coming out the back of my heels.
                The pain that resulted from this is hard to explain, and I wouldn’t want anyone to understand how painful it was. After a day of work my ankles would be so swollen from the constant rubbing on the spikes that I could barely even take off my shoes without crying out in pain. In the weeks leading up to the surgery, it got so bad that I couldn’t put any weight on my feet at all and they were stuck in the pointed position. I couldn’t move my ankle even if I forced it. This forced me to resort to crawling on my hands and knees around my house on the days leading up to the surgery.
                As soon as school was out for the summer I went under the knife to correct the issue. And by “correct the issue,” I mean my doctor would use a bone saw to cut off the spikes on my heels, and he would make small cuts in my Achilles tendon to lengthen it. This was a difficult thing for me to wrap my head around. It is my intention to become a doctor one day, so I kept watching videos of the surgery to prepare myself. No matter how much I did to prepare myself, it didn’t help. When I woke up, I wouldn’t be able to walk for weeks. Weeks! When it came time for the surgery that was all I could think about. When I woke up I wouldn’t be able to walk.
                When I woke up, I was confused. For a moment I thought I was going to be late for school. When I could finally lift my eyelids, I saw my legs and my heart sank. I would’ve much rather have been late to school than wake up in the hospital. The next two weeks were something that I will never forget. I couldn’t do anything by myself. It’s hard to imagine life without the use of your legs until you actually lose that ability.
                Everyday tasks became a nightmare, especially because there were places my wheelchair couldn’t fit. This became my main motivating force to get my strength back, and to heal quickly. When my wheelchair wouldn’t fit into the pantry I wouldn’t let it get to me. All those times I needed help changing my clothes I would only think of the positives. The whole time I was struggling to do basic daily tasks I was thinking that it was only temporary. That soon enough my strength would come back and I’d be able to get dressed by myself and be able to put on shoes or whatever else I wanted to do!
                I know that this positive thinking helped, because at two weeks I got rid of my wheelchair and relied on the use of crutches, along with my heavy and protective walking boots. Every day I made improvements. My mother called them small improvements, but to me they were huge. One of the biggest accomplishments was to be able to walk to my dresser and change my clothes all by myself. After 6 weeks I could finally wear shoes again, and I felt I was able to go back to work doing three hour shifts. Now, six months after my life changing surgery, I can walk better than I ever was able to before and with no pain at all.
                I took my time healing and getting my strength back. I did everything I was told to do. I went to physical therapy two times a week for 4 months. I did my exercises and took it easy at work. I did everything like I was told to do. In my own opinion, keeping a positive attitude and injecting my thoughts with positivity was essential to my recovery. I know I never would’ve been able to learn how to walk again if I kept telling myself I wouldn’t be able to. The same could be said for anyone in whatever situation they may find themselves in. Thinking negatively will not ever accomplish anything. In order to accomplish your dreams and reach your goals, you need to believe that you can. Positive thinking is the first step in achieving this

A Brighter Future

Eulitta Langley

Becoming tearful for me these past few years has evolved into something normal. So to read the prompts for the essay submission for this scholarship, it was no exception to the feeling. Having so many emotions and reasons to be grateful made the choice of what to disclose to the organization a difficult one. But since I am only asked to discuss one topic, that topic will be my focus on positive thinking.
This past November marked the four year anniversary of the death of my mother. That same year, only three months prior to, I gave birth to my beautiful and happy baby girl. These two events met me with such bittersweet confusion. I was utterly negative and depressed mostly because I had spent all of my life taking care of my mother who was often not able to do for herself or for my brother and I. From the time I was able to pull up a stepping stool to the counter tops in the kitchen, I was washing dishes, cooking and cleaning and doing laundry. This was my place of normalcy and essentially all that I knew how to do. I was good at taking care of people and the homes that we had despite the fact that sometimes they were less than inhabitable by many standards. But I made it through all of my schooling while juggling all that life threw at me. However I did not always do this with a positive attitude. My predominant attitude was the question of why is this all happening to me. I could not rationalize why I couldn’t participate in any extracurricular activities or why I wasn’t able to attend sleepovers and parties. I was salty about having to miss school somedays because my Mom was in the hospital and I had to sit there with her all of the time because my Grandmother couldn’t afford the gas money to make multiple trips between the two separate cities in which we lived. Negative thoughts consumed me and this took a major toll on my mental and physical being.
Even after high school, after being accepted to several different colleges of which I only had to choose, I made the decision to stick around and take care of my family. This ultimately ended up being one of the most controversial decisions that I have made thus far. I say this because life would have probably taken a much more different turn had I completed my degree earlier. But instead, I enrolled in community college, took on a job and just a few months after that my Dad left us and divorced my Mom. This was basically the end of her. That year in 2006, I withdrew from school, took on two more jobs and became the sole caretakers and head of household for my Mom, brother and myself at 19 years old. This broke her heart because she knew my ambitions and thought with all of her heart and soul that I deserved everything that I sought and much more. But their wellbeing was a priority for me. In my mind everything else could and would have to wait.
Years went by and my attitude was still about the same, wondering why life for me had turned out the way that it had. I attempted to go back to school online in 2010 and wasn’t able to keep up with the demand of working two jobs and juggling the commitment of school work. At that time, I had just came to terms with the fact that I would have to market my skills and experience in the workforce in order to excel to the highest paying career that I could without a degree. Then in November 2011 I found out that I would soon become a Mom myself. There is no way to explain in written word how much of an impact that this had on my outlook for the future. Because at that one moment, it was no longer my future, but would be my unborn child’s as well. My pregnancy was a difficult one full of financial and personal stress, but in June of 2012 I welcomed my lifeline into the world and had decided that she will have the best that I can give her but it would have to start with me bettering myself. My every thought from the moment was not ‘why is this happening’, but in turn ‘what can I do to make this happen’? How can I make things better? What can I do now to set a solid foundation for a better future.
I researched schools when I was able, but being a new Mom was different than taking care of my brother and Mother so there was an adjustment period for me that took time. But in that time and by November 2012, I watched my Mom take her last breath. My daughter was only 4 months old and I had lost one of the biggest chunks of my heart. Had I not had my daughter, I don’t think that I would have continued on living. But I knew that my Mom would’ve wanted me to strive so that it what I did that following January when I enrolled to complete the degree that I had started. Motivated by the precious life of my daughter and by the memory of my Mother, I changed my negative into positive and completed an Associate’s degree in 18 months while working and being the best Mommy that I could be and I have no desire to slow down now.
It is for these reasons that I have written this short explanation of my life over the last few years in hopes that it will grant me the extra help that I need to continue on to complete the education necessary to pave the way for a brighter future. I want to be an inspiration to others while making my baby proud and feel beams from above from my Mother when I reach the goals that I set out to accomplish while jumping the many hurdles that life dealt.

The Power of a Wonderful Setback

Taylor Casey
​ASU

One component that shapes your identity is one’s past experiences, as I have been taught in my COM 191 course here at Arizona State University. Being 1 of 40,000 people diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes each year, according to JDRF, my life had to adjust to new changes. Being diabetic, I now have to watch the things that I chose to consume. Counting carbs and taking insulin was my new lifeline. Fortunately, learning the functions of nutrition granted me knowledge of not only diabetes, but other autoimmune diseases I possess such as Celiac and Lactose intolerance.
I am not in control of all of the things that happen to me in my life. It was certainly not my choice to inherit Celiac disease and soon contract Type 1 Diabetes while becoming lactose intolerant along the way, but, I certainly wouldn’t change it. Although they have not been the easiest obstacles to overcome, I accepted them because I cannot change it. The health issues I have received have shaped the person I am today. It has transformed my knowledge, my strength, my love for myself and other people in such an extraordinary course.
My conditions allow me to reach out and connect with people who are similar to myself. The knowledge that I have gained from taking care of my own body has found me in situations where I am teaching the community what these diseases are and creating awareness. I will always be grateful for those I’ve met who have shown me incredible insight to life and how to appreciate it to the fullest. Most importantly, I learned a great deal about myself through the process.
A rare side effect of Type 1 is hair loss. About a month into my new diagnosis, around 80% of my hair fled my head due to reintroduction of insulin, my junior year of high school. Being an adolescent with this symptom of hair loss soon took a toll on my self confidence. The pain I had felt lead me further away from myself, God, family and friends. A few months into this unexpected aftermath, I had enough of shaming myself for my appearance. I then had a realization that has altered the dreary mindset I was stuck in. I can not control the things that happen to me but I can control the way I handle it. I decided to enter a world that would make the life I live a happy one. I saw beauty just the way I was. I allowed my thoughts to bring upon positive notes about myself and it has changed everything. Not only did I learn to love how I was created, but I was also able to love others unconditionally, because my life is not all about me. It is about what I can do to serve others and love our neighbors with no strings attached.
Once I entered this new mindset, grace was brought upon me. I believe that when somebody begins to think positively on the things they cannot change in their life, the world becomes attracted to those ideas in one’s head, bringing forth delightful events. Only a few months later, hair clips were introduced to me. I was gifted with confidence boosters, and everything was falling into place. My world was drastically changing. The way I reestablished love in my life for myself reflects how I love other people. I was able to become a good friend. Now genuinely caring about others, and forgiving generously. Being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes strengthened my soul. That then delivered a person whom was found in self appreciation and a reliable shoulder to cry on. I was portraying warmth and friendliness even to strangers. This event that happened to me in 2014, will forever shape me and who I am in the best way possible for the rest of my existence, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I will use what I have learned from my circumstances to better my outlook on the world everyday. My goals in life are to be genuinely happy, to love my neighbors with no strings attached, to do what is true, what is right, follow God and provide grace. I believe while trying to attain these goals, it will bring me to places I could not even dream of. I know it will take me exactly where I need to be in this world, and while doing so, also, spreading love every step of the way.

Personal Statement

Fu Danning

​My father, a graduate who has a keen interest in accounting, has made a profound effect on me, especially on my future career choice. Exactly, my great passion and love for accounting were inseparable from the painstaking cultivation and remorseless enlighten of my father from an early stage. Although he was gone a few years ago, my career goal-to be a competent accounting expert who will play an important role in making strategic decisions and booming the whole company was never wavered, instead, I strengthened my faith and have made up my mind to try my best to obtain this goal.
 
Having been fully aware that to fulfill my career plan surely requires decent academic knowledge and skills. So, I never waste any precious time during university. Now, I am a senior student majoring in Accounting at Nanjing Audit University, a well-known university in Jiangsu Province with an aim to foster comprehensive talents conforming to the requirement of era development. And there, I have been exposed systematically to concepts and theories of accounting. I obtained an overall GPA of 3.5, which not only on account of my sensitivity to figures and my talent at mathematics, but also in virtue of my diligence and endeavor.
 
It seems to me that Accounting and Finance are two closely related and cross subjects. Thus, although an accounting major, I have taken most of the courses in the Finance Department. I was also deeply aware that to be successful in a complicated economic environment required professional knowledge not only in finance, but also in accounting, economics, marketing, management, etc. So, in my spare time, I often read books in related to these subjects. Studying industriously, I earned such certificates as Accountant’s Practice Qualification Certificate, Securities Business Qualification Certificate and Fund Qualification Certificate.
 
What’s more, I managed to publish three academic essays while I was still an undergraduate student, something highly unusual in China. One paper titled “A research on cost management of enterprise resource planning” on Financial Community, one paper named “SWOT analysis of network loan” on China Journal of Commerce, and another paper, “Case study of the effects of audit committee on listed company” was adopted by Modern Business. Of course, resoundingly publishing these essays partly because I consulted a great deal of literature and datum and seek help from my professors, but also due to my solid knowledge accumulation. I like to delve into difficult questions and I am a person with strong views and unique ideas. Several of my professors once talked about how inspiring my ideas as well as questions proposed to their own researches. Now, I grasp the ability to do research independently and prudently, which I strongly believe will contribute to my future research. However, these are not enough for a girl who intends to make a difference in the field of accounting. I profoundly realize that I have to improve and progress a lot, moreover, I am of great necessity to obtain hands-on experience, rather than being content with just performing well in academic achievements.
 
Therefore, I did not hesitate in choosing to join in companies and thus put what have learned from books into practice on vacations. I once took a job in Jiangsu Taizhou RCB Co., Ltd as an account manager assistant, and worked as an audit assistant at Jiangsu Zhongxing Certificated Public Accountants. Also, being a financial assistant, I served in The People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China, Taizhou Branch. In addition, another internship in Taizhou Branch of Huatai Securities I must mention here, since I harvested a lot. During the period of one year, I worked here as a part-time stock broker, and I was mainly responsible for helping the manager handle big customer financial services work. I learned how to sale the financial products and guide customers to buy financial products as experience accumulated, more than that I enhanced team work ability and became acquainted with many talented friends. And it was precisely this internship that brought me great pleasure and thus strengthened my determination to pursue a graduate program.
 
In addition to the work and study, I think everyone should make full use of their time to do something valuable. Throwing myself into volunteer activities has always been my pursuit. In the hope of contributing my little efforts to the Global Community Development Program run by AIESEC Mainland of China, I gave up the plan for a trip to Yunnan, a famous historical city in China, with no regret. Our destination was to Adana, Turkey. During nearly one month, I mainly taught the local youth mathematics and Chinese culture. There, we volunteers from all over the world communicated with the local students and guided them to hold the culture exhibition. Even in this short time, I gained many friendships, reaped much joy, obtained a great feeling of satisfaction, raised the adaptive capacity and broadened the horizons that laid a basis on my further study in USA. Besides, an idea occurred to me that I hope to build a school in remote region some day, to help someone in need.
 
I am convinced that the academic foundation I have laid in both theoretical frameworks and practical skills will help make me a competent student in my proposed studies. I am very eager to further my study in your program, for your leading position in the field of accountancy. Under the guidance of your distinguished faculty and with the benefit of your remarkable research facilities, I firmly believe that I can give full play to my potential and realize my career goal.

Focusing on Things You Can Control

Nicky Stevens
​ASU

    I am currently an ASU West Graduate student; I appreciate the opportunity to share my story with you.
     My mother was diagnosed with cancer when I was just 23 years old and was told at that time she only had less than 6 months to live.  At that time, I didn’t really believe she could be taken from us so fast; we had not gotten to do all the things we said we were going to do together. I felt it wasn’t fair, my son was still so young and didn’t have much time to spend with his grandma and what about his entire firsts that she would miss now? How could this happen to our family? So my mom and I started to make a to-do list aka a bucket list.  We said lets go to Disneyland, Las Vegas, etc. but we still felt there was still so much more things we wanted to do and not enough time.
       So we started focusing on the things we could control, like living in the here and now, what love could we show one another and those around us. We began with using the time we had to help others in our community; we started with the homeless which has now become my passion and my profession. My mom would go to McDonalds and buy sandwiches and coffee for those who were hungry and cold. She would buy discounted toys and drop them off at family shelters. We were just grateful for the time we had together and what we could do today to make a positive impact on someone’s life.  Because you may not be here tomorrow to see it but you can live in the here and now and enjoy the impact of making someone smile from a just small act of kindness. We learned to be grateful for the small moments we had together and not be angry for the little time we had left together. We found that the more we focused on the positive the more positive things started to happen. It was like what were on a journey of healing together, not only a healing of my mom’s body but a healing of our heartache. My mom would go through radiation treatment which made her extremely ill and she lost all of her teeth, then she lost some of her hair, then she would be in and out of the hospital with pneumonia where the doctors said she may not make it through the night but somehow she would make it out of the hospital and home with us again.  She would still be so grateful and positive and say, “God says I still have work to do!”  My mother would eventually have to get a feeding tube and I was her sole care giver and during the time it was difficult because my mom could no longer enjoy foods like she used to. Food was something we really enjoyed as family so this was a difficult for all of us. But I just remember my mom staying positive and joking “now I might be able to lose some weight”. In the following years my mother got progressively worse and on my sisters birthday she passed away. Doctors told us she would only have 6 months to live but I think her positive attitude and gratitude of her life kept her with us much longer. She was never angry or bitter; she said I am going to live in the here and now and enjoy every moment of her life. I don’t remember feeling extremely sad the day that she passed on. I felt I that I had done the grieving with her for so long and we had a wonderful time together on her journey. I knew that it was my turn to keep her traditions of positivity, generosity and gratitude going. This was a chance for me to share her teachings with the world and pass on all of her positivity and strength to my son and to all those who needed it around me.  One of the most powerful things said to me after my mom passed away was, “Nicky you would come to work every day with a smile on your face and positive attitude and I didn’t know you were going through all of this”. Those words have stuck with me all of these years and I always remember just because you are going through a lot of pain doesn’t mean you have to make everyone else go through it with you. That is what my mom taught me, strength and optimism in the face of death! What does it mean to truly live? What you put into others’ lives comes back to you in many ways. I wanted the world to know mom existed that her attitude of gratitude lived on not only in me but in my son. My son has definitely inherited my mother’s positive spirit, as a young man now who works with the homeless and I am overwhelmed by the words I hear about his grateful spirit and positive attitude, he is the true embodiment of the law of attraction. He puts out so much love to the people experiencing homelessness and it comes back to him in ways that words cannot express.  I know that is my mother still with us making a positive impact in this world through us by giving hope to so many souls who may have lost theirs. Families who sleep on our streets need to see the face of positivity and generosity so they don’t feel forgotten. This is one of the noblest jobs we can do, to bring hope to those who may have lost their way. Much like the hope my mother gave to me in the face of tragedy, my son is now giving this to so many others. 

Focusing on Things You Can Control

Joelle Dykstra

​​If you are alive, there are things that you will never be able to control. As a child, you are probably used to this fact to some degree. You are told when to go to sleep, when to wake up, when to play and when to clean and when to eat. As you get older, the desire to control the happenings in your life increases. You want to be able to say when it’s time to sleep, eat, and play. But, it seems the more you try to control everything, the more everything controls you instead. There will always be something that pops up unexpectedly, making you lose control over certain aspects of your life. For me and my family, this unexpected pop up was my older brother’s heroin addiction.
                My brother was a destructive force within our family. He severely disrupted any control we had over our daily lives. If I was home, I was constantly worried about the people my brother was bringing into my home. I was stressing over what he was doing in the room beside mine. He was constantly pestering me about giving him money or driving him to a friend or buying him something, and when I didn’t, I would be subjected to screaming in my face, accusations, and name-calling. I was reluctant to say much of anything around the other members of my family because I did not want to mention the agony that everyone knew was already there. If I was at school during this time, I was thinking about whether I would come home to a ransacked house, if all my possessions would still be where I had left them or if they were currently on their way to a pawn shop. I would worry about my mother more than anyone or anything else. Ultimately, I became an extremely reserved and nervous person. My grades in school and my well-being were suffering.
                My sophomore year in high school was the peak of all the problems, the things I could not control were controlling me. I had started to get sick more frequently, and I had come to realize that talking to people was as hard as quantum physics in my mind. I decided that I needed to focus on the things that I could control. I had to put all of my attention into what I needed to accomplish in order to better myself, instead of putting my attention on chains locking my feet in place. To do this, I made a simple list. First on my list was to get rid of my fear of speaking to other people, next on my list was to achieve a higher standing in my academic status, and third was to stand up for myself to my brother and ensure that he did not have any power over me. Once my list was made, I went straight to work.
                To become comfortable around others, I decided that I should become a leader on my campus and join the student council. I went out for a position where I did not have to make a speech to the whole campus, but rather just to the selection committee within the current student council. While I gave my speech to this small panel of peers, I was shaking almost uncontrollably, I was sweating like a pig, and I stammered on almost every other word. To my surprise, they selected me for the position. Throughout that year, I became more and more at ease with speaking to others. I eventually went on to become student body president my senior year, and I made the most speeches to a 3,500-student body than any other student on campus. My fear of speaking to others is still relevant in my daily life, but I took control of the fear and turned it into an adrenaline rush.
                The next thing I decided to focus on was the number of honors courses I was taking and pushing my grade point average higher than it had ever been before. In high school, I had a hard time maintaining a 3.5 grade point average because I was involved in so many extracurricular activities. I decided that I needed to control the amount of time I was dedicating to my studies. I started setting strict schedules for when and how long I would do each of my homework assignments, my planner became my best friend. By focusing on the time and effort I was putting into my studies, I successfully completed multiple honors courses, graduated high school with some college credit, and raised my grade point average. I ended up graduating with a grade point average that was .03 points away from a 3.5, but I could not have been more proud of the work I had done to get to that point.
                At home, I decided to focus on the one thing I could control in all the madness; my attitude towards facing my brother and the situation I was in. I would repeat positive mantras in my head each morning. I would look at my bed, at the food in my pantry, and I would remind myself how lucky I was. I would look to my mother and tell her how much I appreciated all she did for me. I told myself that even though I am going through a rough time with my brother, even though I can’t control his actions and his attitude, I can still choose to be happy. And so, I became happy. I stood up for myself in the face of his blaming and aggression. I found strategic ways to hide my possessions so that he may never have to chance to sell them. I refused to give him money, to assist him in any way that would harm him even if that meant being subjected to his mind games. I was in control of myself and he in no way could manipulate me.
                Through all this, I learned that it is vital to focus on what I can control as opposed to consistently worrying about the things that I will never have any influence over. My brother was set on a path that he had no plans of straying from, even if it harmed myself and my family. I was unable to control him and his actions, but I found I could control the way I reacted to them. Putting all of my attention on bettering myself instead of what was holding me back eventually allowed me to become the successful college student that I am today. I am a happier, healthier, and more comfortable in my own skin and with my own accomplishments because I decide each day to put my time and energy in what I can control. 

Having an Attitude of Gratitude

Ivan Barksdale

​I went through a lot of hardships all throughout my life. I either learned the easy way or the hard way. Life wasn't easy in certain periods of my life. However, I prevailed and overcame the challenges that came my way. My family suffered financially for a short period of time. Our lives were not in sync and nothing was together. At this point in time, it was only me, my mother, and my father. My brother wasn't born until a few years later. I was only about nine or ten years old at the time and I had absolutely no idea what was going on in my family. My mother always told me each and every day to focus on my school work and maintain good grades. I did just like she told me and It resulted in success. My mother and father had to find a temporary home for us to live in for the time being since we didn't have necessary funds to pay for our previous house. Years later, my brother was born and my mother and father had to make ends meet in order for him to fit in the family. Realistically, we were struggling and needed financial support, but we had each other and that was most important. Likewise, my point is that I endured a lot in my life. I always want what is best for my family and getting a college education is a goal for me in order to make my mother and father proud. I strive to make myself a better future and investing in my education will help me pave my way towards where I want to go.
            Currently, I am majoring in business management at Kennesaw State University. Some students will assume that college is a waste of time because you will be placed in debt before you even head out into the real world. I will admit that college does have its pros and cons. Assuming College to be a waste of time and money, is very prejudge mental. You can’t assume the worse about college if you haven’t experienced it firsthand.  Most colleges are very welcoming. The faculty and staff are there to comfort you. You may also use them to help further your future endeavors. It will get stressful at certain times during your college career. However, those days of struggles and adversities only make you stronger. Some students, in those times of adversity, will give up and decide to dropout. Only the strongest survive in college. You can consider that a waste of money if you decide to dropout. In my opinion, if you are so stressed in college and you decide to stoop so low that you decide to dropout. Then, you are in the wrong place. College is not for you if you allow it to get the best of you. Whatever it is that you hope to accomplish in life, it will be pushed back even further because you decided to waste your time in college. Besides that, college is a prime time to meet new peers and learn life lessons. In my opinion, the process is more important than the final product. The journey that you endure now, it is only the beginning when you start college. That being said, I highly recommend you to go to college. Any other alternative besides college is a long shot and will not come with significant benefits. Whatever is to be your destined path will be a foggy road at first, but keep persevering and sooner or later that road will become clear.
            I have plenty of short and long-term goals, but there are only a few that stand out from the rest. I am truly blessed to be given opportunities to achieve each and every goal. Most importantly, those goals are what drive me each and every day to become the best I can be. I strive to become an entrepreneur and play basketball professionally. On top of being an entrepreneur, one of my goals, I hope to construct my very own Fortune 500 Company. I am willing to learn from the best who are already successful in the business. One of those successors, Michael Jordan, one of the very best in the world of basketball and business, He built the Jordan brand from scratch, beginning when he came out of North Carolina University to the Chicago Bulls. He is a legend when it comes to branding and sneakers. One day I hope to become as great he was. Each and every day, I strive to become the best I can be through God's wisdom and guidance.
 
            I have many dreams and aspirations. These dreams and aspirations are my very being and define who I am. I consider my goals to be very broad. Others may consider my goals impossible to achieve. Despite, others not being able to comprehend my future the way I do, it doesn’t justify my purpose because they don’t understand where I vision myself in ten or twenty years. All that is important is that I realize my true potential and live out my future goals and aspirations. All throughout my lifetime, I constantly changed my goals. I could never seem to stick to one set of goals and I didn’t have a true passion at the time. Transitioning from high school up to college allowed me to discover what my true passion was. I was flying “blinded” for many years, unable to find my true path to greatness. Many words of wisdom from family, friends, and peers allowed me to come to a conscious decision. I’ve decided to pursue a career as an entrepreneur and have ownership of an NBA franchise.  In order for me to accomplish this milestone, I will gain enough profit from my shoe brand and clothing brand company and use that money towards purchasing an NBA franchise . I feel like this was more of a spiritual decision from the most high rather than my very own decision. I believe in God and I believe that he would want nothing but the best for me. I have total faith in this decision.

Focusing On What You Can Control

Abbey Schroeder

​The current attitude of the present is to focus on struggles and who to blame. Everyone is entitled to a happy life were hard work is rewarded and nothing bad happens to good people, right? For some people, the answer to this question is accompanied by a brief chuckle and a, “I wish,” or, “So you could hope.” That was my mindset for a period of my life, but now I can happily respond with a firm, “Yes.” It is hard to practice an optimistic mindset with without a definitive strategy. This strategy would have to be one worthy to stand against some of life’s greatest struggles. The mindset that prevails with the best strategy to combat this is focusing on what you can control.
            From a very young age I have been called upon to sidestep the common joys of childhood and rise to the occasion with a mature attitude. My first attempt at this was when I was 10 years old. My mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, following in suit with the past women of my family. This was a daunting reality none of us could hide from, but rather together we could help my mom fight. Throughout extensive radiation and chemo treatment, we each played our part in the constant fight. My father was always there to face the real world dilemmas of adult emotional support, to help keep a rational perspective on the matter, and to be the glue that held our family together. My sister was able to be the diligent helper in assisting me with picking up the extra work around the house while my parents dealt with other matters. I, picking up my fair share of work, also focused on keeping up the personnel of my family. Whether that was filling the room with laughter at my ridiculous jokes, offering an optimistic outlook, or distracting my family with humorous stories from school. Together, my family got through our first hurdle together.
            I would be lying if I didn’t say we had help from others, focusing on things that we couldn’t control. My mother acknowledged the fact that she couldn’t control how my sister and I, both being so young, would handle her sickness. During one of her trips to the hospital, she fell upon a flyer for Camp Kesem, a nonprofit organization run by college students that put on a summer camp to help children through and beyond their parent’s cancer. She immediately researched the program and signed us up. This seemed to me, at first, a scary overnight camp that would take me out of being able to help my mom at home for a whole week. In a world where cancer has a mind of its own, a whole lot can happen in a week, I worriedly thought to myself, and was extremely reluctant at first. Using my optimistic attitude though, I tried my best to be open to this new experience.
            Words cannot describe how much this seemingly foreign, scary camp has given me. I have since grown immensely from that first year of camp, having attended for nine years. Not only has it helped me to better face whatever life seems to threw my family’s way, but also it has helped me to assist my friends with whatever life throws their way. Throughout my life, I have been able to successfully help my friends get through depression, abusive relationships, eating disorders, self-harm, sexual assault, and more. Attending this camp, I was armed with what I needed to face all that life had to face me with, and know I could prevail the guidance of my new Kesem family. This was an essential in creating a much needed foundation in learning how to focus on what I could control, and what I couldn’t.
            My family fought very hard and together breathed a sigh of relief when finding out about my mother being a survivor in remission from the claws of cancer. This first hurdle was just a warm up for the future though as during my Freshman year of High School, my mom started to grow sick again. A new illness rapidly took hold of my mom, reducing a once strong cancer survivor to a fragile, weak woman. Similar to the attack of cancer cells, my mother’s white blood cells were destroying her muscles, reducing her to having to use a walker. This autoimmune disease was the first of many to cripple my mother over my High School career. Going through the basic struggles of High School is hard enough without adding the qualification of being the new adult at home to cook, clean, delegate, and keep up the family personnel. The most aggravating reality was that nothing I could do would directly heal the sickness my mother was, on some occasions, hospitalized for or cure her of ailments facing her. This reality was unacceptable for someone like me who is fundamentally pragmatic when facing issues.
            Learning the lesson of controlling what I could from my counselors at Camp Kesem, helped put my pragmatic mindset to good use. I became the backbone of my family, assisting in anything I could to take the load of my mother. As my mother got stronger, my family looked strong in rounding the curve of my mother’s diseases. Now being a Freshman in college, I am actively a part of the same Camp Kesem that has taught me so much in tackling life’s greatest challenges. I have been able to actively help teach the successful strategy of focusing on what you can control to people also facing seemingly unmanageable situations.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Maria Scott

​The year was 1963, that summer on August 16th my mother turned 12 years old and three weeks later on September 7th she gave birth to me. Just a child herself, my mother was in not prepared for motherhood. A few weeks before I was born my mother tried to commit suicide, fearing that my grandparents would rip me away from her at birth, and she was right. I was placed into foster care and my grandparents put my mother in a Catholic girl’s school for wayward girls. My father who was ten years my mother’s senior was charged with statutory rape. He was convicted and sent to Sing Sing, a maximum security prison in upstate New York.
            When I was five years old and my mother was seventeen she married and I was placed into her custody.  Although she was my mother, she was a stranger to me. I was ripped away from the only family I had ever known. Life with my mother was tough, by the time she was 19 my mother had a husband and three children. That was a lot to take on at such a young age and soon after my baby brother was born and she divorced my stepfather the effects of her life began to show. She never forgave my grandmother for sending us both away and when she was just five years old I found out that my mother was molested by a family member. My mother became an alcoholic and a drug user and life for me took a turn for the worst.
            I was abused physically and sexually on more than one occasion. My mother continued to party, drink and use drugs and make unhealthy choices in her life that always ended up affecting me and there was nothing I could do about it. I had never met my father and my mother was all I had. I survived my childhood and in the 12th grade I got pregnant with my first child. That changed everything. Although I had grown up without the proper love and guidance I knew that I wanted different for my child and I was determined to show my child love, understanding, patience and most of all protection.
            I never understood why my mother never faced her demons but what I did understand was that because she never faced them they continued to have power over her life. I was determined to live a positive healthy life and to raise my children in a positive healthy environment. As soon as I gave birth to my first child at the age of 19, I moved out of my mother’s house. I worked hard every day to instill morals into my children. I taught them about the power of education and hard work and I would always love and support them. I have had my share of challenges in this life but I have also seen some victories. I have raised five beautiful children and I am the proud grandmother of 8.
            In 2011 we buried my 5-month-old grandson who passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome while at my home. A month later on Thanksgiving day I found out about my husband’s infidelity. My children were very worried about me but what they seemed to have forgotten was that I had faced many traumatic circumstances in my life. There is no pain in this world that God can not heal. In April 2013 three days after my divorce was final and at the age of 50, I decided to go back to school and finish my degree. I am currently a senior at the University of Central Florida. I have a GPA of 3.8. My major is Sociology and I have a minor in Non-Profit Management. My children are a constant encouragement to me not only with their words but by the mere fact that I want them to see that no matter what life throws your way you can always get up, brush yourself off and push forward in a positive way.
            My life’s dream is to help families and to share some of the wisdom and lessons I have learned on my journey. To give families like mine, who have faced challenges and circumstances beyond their control the support to grab a hold of each other and keep on moving forward. My plans are to graduate from UCF with my undergraduate degree in Sociology in December 2017. I will then apply to grad school and pursue a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management. I plan to start a non-profit 501C3 called The Family Center which will support families and the challenges they face in today’s society.
            I will first conduct an analysis of the community in which my organization will be serving using a GIS (Geographical Information System). I will then develop maps that will highlight the needs of the community. Then I will work with families, businesses, community leaders and educators in that community to develop programs that will assist and support the families in these communities. I will develop a marketing campaign that will focus on the importance of the entire community coming together to help its neighbors. It will focus on bringing back the idea of neighborhoods and community responsibilities. I want to instill the ideology that “I am my neighbor's keeper”, and help them understand the idea that no one is going to be more invested in your neighborhood than you, therefore the power to bring change must come from the community, not the government.
            There is nothing like the power of positive thinking. Ten percent of life is what happens to you and ninety percent is how you react to it. I raised my children to never give up, never give in and never complain. When they complain to me I say “What are you going differently today so that next year you won’t be complaining about the same situation”?
            On October 2nd 2016 at the age of 53, I heard my father’s voice for the very first time. On November 4th 2016 my children and I fly to Puerto Rico to meet him and the next morning my father ended up in the hospital. I flew back to Puerto Rico and visited with him for a week. Twenty-four days after meeting my father for the first time, on November 28th my father passed away. I could not have been more grateful for the opportunity to have looked into his eyes and hear from his own voice say “I love you”. If I had been bitter and angry I would have lost the opportunity that I been given. I was determined stay positive and not let my mother’s negative feelings toward him taint our relationship and I am so glad I did. Life is definitely what you make it and power of positive thinking can transform a life of struggle to a life of opportunity.

Resilient

Ariane Yumi Kreidl

​Resilience is the attribute that carried me throughout my life and will help me achieve all of my dreams. Born and raised in the working class suburbs of Brazil, my life was surrounded by the selfless characters of hard working people and by the violence and injustice of a nation led by corruption. Living alongside the extremes of the Brazilian society contributed to my passion for law and to help my community. In Brazil, I was accepted into law school but unfortunately was unable to afford it. After a great amount of financial hardships and relentless trials to stand on my own feet, I decided to start my life from zero, in a place that is known for having the greatest opportunities for those who work hard, a place of second chance, a place where dreams can become reality; the United States. For the next four years, life proved to be harder than I could ever have imagined- I was an undocumented worker and barely made enough to pay my rent. At that moment, I felt that my dream of going to law school was getting further away from me. Finally, after many years of struggling for better opportunities, for the right to seek my American dream, the right to pursue higher education, I received documentation to legally work and attend school. But my moment of joy and independence was short-lived. Financial burden was a like the great wall that separate me and the opportunity to go to school. I had to still support myself and school was still a faraway dream. Not too long after, I suffered an accident at work, requiring spinal surgery later that year. At that moment, my life changed dramatically, I was no longer able to work or carry on my daily life as any other young adult; I was mourning the death of a person that I used to be. After one year trying to find myself again, I came to the realization that this accident was a wake-up call that meant to put me back on the right track. Life was telling me to go back to school and pursue what I have always wanted; to go to law Kreidl 2 school. Despite all my fears of failure, I was determined to chase my dreams; and now back in school, excited about my future again, life feels complete and on the right track. College filled my life with opportunities and challenges that I am eager to overcome. Today, I am a full-time student at University of Southern California in the Marshall School of Business. I proudly represent the minorities, the students that not only struggle because of their background but also carriers the burden to support their family. I come from East Los Angeles College, a school that gives great opportunities for students where I was fortunate to work with amazing professors and tutor students at the Business Department. I also was part of the ELAC Speech Team, where developed my public speaking skills and competed against other colleges in regional tournaments, which I was blessed to win first-place in the 2016 tournament. Although I will never completely recover from my injury and despite having a great amount of financial hardships, my life feels greater than ever. The great wall between myself and my dreams of education still exists, but I have the strength and effort to climb through any difficulties to achieve my dream. My goals continues to be the same; get into law school. Obtaining my education would empower me to achieve my dream career, which would be working towards the improvement of the local community in public policy or as a human rights attorney. Throughout my life, I learned to never give up on my dreams, to be resilient. Against all the odds and despite all difficulties that I have encountered, I am still here fighting for my dreams, and I can say those difficulties only contributed to the person that I am today, and that I am very proud to be.

Mind Over Matter

Gianna Litrell

​The power of the mind is a vital yet neglected focus of living. We are aware that our attitudes shape ourselves and how people interact with us, yet many are unaware that our very ways of thinking and acting impact the very future of the world. Exaggerated? Maybe. But perhaps not. So bear with me as we explore the possibilities of life, and as they are contained within ourselves.
            It is not easy to be “happy” or “ready” for the adversities and obstacles life and reality throw at us. Some of us are raised in a nurturing environment that protects and encourages us to be open-minded and confident, while some of us struggle to get out of bed every morning with the overwhelming feeling of purposelessness. These ways of living are heavily impacted by our positionality in society (based on race, class, and gender) and modes of thinking. We hear inspirational quotes such as, “Your vibe attracts your tribe” and the concept of “karma”, but how seriously do we live by these principles? And is it that easy? How can a person be stronger and more positive if they see no light at the end of the tunnel? If they are responsible for being the only positive person, surrounded by darkness? Personal development is a lifestyle and one that demands upkeep and offers a “better” future.
            Personally, I believe personal development to be the very thing humans are on Earth for. Our very consciousness strives for “more”, “greater”, and “better.” We want the most from our fleeting lives in such an infinite universe, and this temporary feeling of being a small part of the world is what I believe brings the feelings of chaos and anxiety into our human realm. We complain to relieve ourselves of our everyday strains in hope that someone cares enough to listen and provide needed insight, yet the very things we complain about and discuss with others alters their view of the world, as it expands their perspective and grants them new intellectual space to cover. Opinions, prejudices, and feelings turn into facts, stereotypes, and ideologies that rewire society. And yet, positive thinking has also managed to uplift nations and oppressed peoples who perhaps just needed to know that there is still goodness in the world. A phrase I have always liked to remember, even in the midst of my own crises, is that a smile can change the world. While sometimes it is hard to force the corners of your mouth to turn upward, that small act can brighten some else’s day and encourage them to be strong for others. Can you imagine if we all had this miniscule consideration for each other? Such is why this essay topic speaks volumes to me and touches the very essence of my soul, as I have struggled many years with positive thinking and being strong for others, which has in certain respects, made me stronger and helped me develop a more positive outlook on this complex world.
            While positive thinking and living is easier said than done, especially with outside forces you cannot control always trying to change you, the first step is to try. I like to tell myself that if I want to be a better person I am already a step closer. This is all a game of placebo, perhaps. Are there written guidelines to be followed to achieve enlightenment and Nirvana? No, that is the subjectiveness life provides to accommodate the shifting molds of ourselves, but the end goal is usually development. From the birth of religion to industrialization, humankind strives for the sort of development that can liberate us and project us into a brighter, more promising future. So why are we so intolerant to developing ourselves mentally? For and by ourselves for the betterment of the world? We have the power to do so, there is no doubt about that.
            Though I could not (and like to tell myself such) control my father leaving when I was a child, I was and am in control of how I choose to feel about him not wanting to see me or pay child support, yet I still like to remain positive so that I may not hold disdain for my younger half-siblings. I cannot control how people view and choose to judge me, but I am in control of how I must remain strong and “be myself” so that these judgments do not undermine who I really am. People cannot always control the cancers that force themselves into their bodies via factory plants, polluted water and air, and poisonously chemical foods, but we are in control of how we deal with them. Unfortunately, chemotherapy is always accessible, but foundations and charities can be utilized to uplift those very spirits and bring the power of positivity into their lives.
            This world is no stranger to tragedy and chaos, but it always thrives beside hope and miracles. The hope for a better future for the entire world has kept the very air in my lungs and the blood rushing throughout my body. This scholarship provides me the opportunity to continue my studies and worry less about the systemic chaos of money and its grasp on society’s new reality, and focus on the possibilities my studies can provide while continuously developing myself. Our lives are not simply about us, for we live among and from people and must realize that we are all similarly confused and uncertain about what the future brings, so let us be grateful for the quickness of time and be inspired by the power of positive thinking. 

Personal Development

Alex Johnson

​The attitude an individual possesses during difficult challenges in life, plays a pivotal role in the individual’s personal development. In the wake of trouble, an attitude of gratitude can launch a person into a maturity that would have otherwise been impossible to obtain without the necessary trials of life. The personal development that occurs through these trials, proves to be invaluable in the future. My life is an example of such development and growth. For some individuals, the growth from trials may be due to the death of a loved one or a physical illness; for others, it could be financial insecurity or marital problems. For me however, it was a crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol. An addiction that nearly killed me daily, and toward the end I became disappointed when it failed to do so. An addiction that brought havoc amidst every single facet of my life.
The world I come from is rather different the many people might assume. Most people correlate drug addiction or alcoholism with broken homes; however, my story is radically different. I enjoyed an amazing childhood. My parents remain happily married after 30 years. My three older sisters always loved and cared about me. I never worried about food being on the table, the clothes on my back, or where the school supplies for the year came from. I played sports and participated socially through several outlets. I lived a quite seemingly happy life, but something was missing. I expended my childhood desperately searching for some form of purpose and belonging that I could never quite satisfy. The inability to quench my thirst for finding purpose in this life tormented me constantly. When a completed task left me unfulfilled, I casually moved on to the next, then the next; all the while feeling empty as if I accomplished nothing. The vanity of life began to grab its foothold on me and I struggled to fit in anywhere. I felt misunderstood by everyone around me in school, my friends and even my family. The constant fear of non-acceptance drove me.
At the early age of sixteen, I discovered alcohol and immediately fell in love. One fateful night I purchased a bottle of red wine, and a six-pack of beer. The drunken stupor I received became the sensation that I could not live without. From that moment on, alcohol held me in its death grip, yet I continued to live my life oblivious to the path of destruction I chose to embark on. I justified my behavior by convincing myself I was a “normal” teenager who simply enjoyed excessive drinking. My behavior created tension with my parents so, as a solution, I moved out three days after my 18th birthday thereby obtaining the freedom I desperately desired. Now I could party without restrictions. During the next eighteen months, I worked, drank, and abused pain-killers. That became my existence. During that time period, the lifestyle I lived did possess a certain amount of appeal. I had fun. Different women, different parties, different drugs; I lived within the delusion of achieving the “American Dream”.
I decided to further my education by attending school in a feeble attempt to discover the purpose I still searched for. I believed school might possess the solution to my trivial existence. I attended a semester at a local community college then transferred to Texas Tech University. Isolation began to dominate my life at Tech. At only 19 years old, I was drinking over two handles of whisky a week in addition to an excessive amount of beer, as well as marijuana consumption; all of which I consumed in solitude. Ironically, I took an “understanding alcoholics and addictive behaviors” course as a science elective. I convinced myself any problem remained non-existent because I wasn’t using the “hard stuff” such as heroin and cocaine. One night, after a terrible breakup with my girlfriend, I went out on the town to self-medicate. My drunken decisions placed me in a position where an older man sexually molested me. The hatred built up inside of me and I decided to go back home. I felt confused and abandoned as well as an enormous amount of hatred towards myself for allowing such a shameful thing to happen. I proceeded to get my old job back as a chef and continued to live the same life; drink, pop pills, smoke weed, work and sleep - nothing more. I despised being sober and constantly sought out better methods of intoxication. My search came to an end when an individual introduced me into heroin and cocaine. My life changed. I found it. I found the euphoria I had been desperately searching for with every fabric of my being. I found happiness; or so I thought. The happiness soon faded as any drug addict can attest to.
Throughout my journey, I always placed a significant importance on work. Even though I always showed up high, and/or drunk, I never got fired from a job. For lack of a better term, I was a “functioning addict” in regards to the professional workplace. Due to my work ethic, I received a promotion into kitchen management which meant a considerable increase in pay. This increase enabled me to purchase a significantly larger number of drugs on a regular basis. Slowly but surely, my problems began to grow. Soon, I realized I needed to slow down; however, once I attempted any form of control in regards to my substance consumption, the brutal truth surfaced. I couldn’t stop. Up to this point, I possessed zero interesting in quitting. I believed the delusion that I contained within myself the necessary will power to stop anytime I desired to. When I possessed the honest desire to quit, my lack of control became astonishingly evident. Thus, I began the arduous journey of sobriety. I failed constantly. Unfortunately, despite my valiant efforts, I couldn't stay sober. I attended AA meetings, I attempted therapy, I obtained a girlfriend and used the relationship as motivation, I made countless firm resolutions to stop. Every attempt ended in failure. I became suicidal. What started as the sensation I craved constantly, quickly became the feeling I detested yet couldn’t survive without. Alcohol, heroin, and cocaine owned me. I gave up. I arrived at one simple yet morbid conclusion; this pitiful existence would engulf my destiny. The grim reaper began his approach. I attempted suicide via drug overdose. Failed attempts only strengthened my resolve. I taunted death by driving down the highway, traveling 110mph, drunk and coked out of my mind. I screamed at God with all my might to kill me. Every day that I woke up breathing, I possessed an intense anger towards a God that I ironically didn’t even believe in. I despised life. I began cutting myself because self-mutilation became the only method of confirming my deplorable existence during massive drug binges. The grim reaper was on my doorstep. Substance abuse trapped me inside a living hell to which there seemed no escape.
I lived a double life. I continued to maintain my profession identity at work by ingesting only the necessary number of drugs to prevent withdraw sickness. I played the actor daily and somehow held everything together. During a hectic shift on a Friday night, several cooks walked to the restaurant parking lot and drank alcohol. Because of several witnesses, sending them home became my only option. The corporate office god wind of the situation and my hands were tied. The next day, I fired all three with a bag of drugs in my pocket and the smell of fresh coffee and cigarettes attempting to mask the whisky on my breath from that very morning. The guilt tormented me. I wish I could tell the narrative of what happened over the course of the next two months; however, I possess no recollection of the events that occurred. I needed a miracle. I was a hopeless case. My miserable life had caught up with me and I had nowhere to run.
The miracle I so desperately craved finally arrived on May 10th, 2014. The police apprehended me for drunk driving and while lying on that hard cement floor, I began to go into alcohol and heroin withdraws. In that moment, it dawned on me. I always attempted recovery on my terms. Who am I to dictate how to run my own life? I kept failing miserably. I finally reached out for help. After years of waiting, my parents breathed a sigh of relief when they finally received my phone call phone call crying for help. They immediately helped me check into a treatment center. Throughout my life, I viewed God through a religious lens, and therefore became trapped within the legalistic rules and regulations of religion. This viewpoint brewed hatred and inhibited me from fully understanding the simple relationship component. Though I still possessed a tremendous amount of resentment toward God because of this viewpoint; I finally gave my will over to him. I decided to participate in life on His terms and see what would become of it. I gave myself the ultimatum, if my decision didn’t work, then I would finally build up enough courage to put a bullet it my head. I attempted everything else under the sun to get sober and nothing worked so I might as well give the whole God thing a chance. Upon the simple cornerstone of the 3rd step in AA, I experienced breakthrough. Through the process of working a 12-step program, my selfishness exposed itself and I finally understood the behavioral pattern that blocked me from achieving any form of success in sobriety. I lived a self-seeking lifestyle driven by fear. I fell victim to the lie that I was too far gone to be loved by anyone, let alone a perfect God. This thinking process began to turn around through therapy I received in treatment; however, the suicidal thoughts still plagued me. I couldn’t see how I could be of any use to anyone. Everyone in treatment kept talking to me about being helpful and how my story could have an impact; however, I did not understand how that would be possible. I still fell short of finding my purpose in this world. As time went on, new guys came into treatment broken down and full of despair. Then it suddenly occurred to me, I travelled the exact same path this person traveled, I know exactly what that young man is experiencing right now. So, I simply started helping the new guys. That became the moment where I found the most amazing aspect of life. Service towards others.
Upon completing treatment, I moved into a sober living home in Denton, Texas. The structured environment gave me the amazing opportunity of practicing many recovery principles daily. Through continuous work with my sponsor and growing my relationship with God, I started realizing the full extent of how much my story of hope could help others.  I have been given opportunities to give back and be of service in ways I thought were impossible. During my time in Denton, I lead a recovery meeting at my old treatment center. When I moved out of sober living, I continued my involvement by sponsoring men in the house through the 12 steps as well as leading a step study meeting with my sponsor. These amazing experiences gave me countless opportunities to grow through the service of others. My entire life I believed a person might find purpose and happiness through material possessions, professional status, or even fame. However, in my experience nothing can be further from the truth. I found my purpose driven life through self-sacrifice and service to others. Upon that simple foundation, the freedom and joy I receive daily is unexplainable.
Every day I possess an attitude of gratefulness. I am grateful that I am alive. I am grateful that my family never gave up on me. I am grateful that I have been given the tools necessary to help others who are struggling with addiction and depression. My attitude is what gives me fuel to be of maximum service towards others. I took my life for granted and almost paid the ultimate price. I stared at death and laughed. I am lucky to have walked away. I want people to know they aren’t alone in their fight. I finally found my purpose that I had been searching for since I was a little boy. Helping others. Sometimes, people ask me if I had a chance go back and change everything if I would. Frankly, I wouldn’t trade my past for anything, I am grateful for it. My addiction put me in a position of desperation where I now possess a relationship with God that I could have never even dreamt of. I appreciate life so much more in hindsight of my trials. Even the mundane daily tasks of life are enjoyable to me simply because of how grateful I am to not be taking up residence in a grave. At its core, the ability to possess a grateful attitude is only a matter of perspective. Personal development can be very difficult, it can be painful, it can be downright revolting. However, with the right perspective, and the proper attitude of gratitude, an individual can turn the growth trail from the most negative event in their life, to the most positive event in their personal development. All it takes, is a little hope, and the proper attitude.

Dominant Thoughts

Vai Patri

​​I’ve always known that I possess many talents. Mentally, I have no shortage of intelligence. I’ve harnessed the strength to overcome many challenges through out life: my addictive eating disorder, constant bullying, abusive relationships, and family dysfunction. However, I was the one obstacle I had never overcome, and as a consequence, the challenge that had presented itself daily was none other than my mentality.
 Equilibrium was a difficulty, one that I faced outwardly and inwardly. Externally, I constantly struggled with the balance of being a musician, full time student and worker. Internally, I was in persistent psychological warfare: The painful, traumatizing influences and mistakes of the past were the offense, and my passion for music and thirst for diligence was the defense.  Is this the right decision? Is this who I am? Why would I do something like that? I want to be better. So why am I destroying myself? I was stuck in the negative existence of my past, while wanting to excel in my present so that I could cherish the future. I would take one step forward and three steps back. As someone with an intense cardinal personality, this all left me in a state of constant frustration, depression, and perplexity.
  I was impeded by this state of ruinous turmoil for years - until I had been introduced to a wonderful novel, “The Secret”. Rhonda Byrne, along with twenty-four gurus who had participated in the creation of novel had changed my life for the better, because they had changed the way I thought for the better. They helped me to realize something incredibly vital: I had a choice. I had already asked for forgiveness, forgiven myself, and learned from my mistakes. So why was I still living in the same anguish? The Law of Attraction answered me: “like attracts like”. If one were to think one bad thought, like bad thoughts would attract to that one bad thought, engendering a cluster of negativity. There was nothing wrong with me; there was simply something wrong with what I thought. This was a truth, and once I had become enlightened, I changed my life. 
  The Law of Attraction taught me that my dominant thoughts were the most powerful; what they were, I was. Previously, my dominant thoughts had not been of my music; they had been of my negative past. Therefore, I had been living in that negative past. I began to think more and more of my music. Every time I found myself thinking negative thoughts, I snapped. I was able to tell myself, this is not what matters. Music matters, your health matters. You matter. I had never really done this before. After seven years, I had finally begun to think positively and with clarity. I finally began to heal, and in doing so, left my past where it belonged: deceased, in the past. By changing the concentration of my dominant thoughts, I changed the course of my actions. I was elevated. I have something magnificent to offer this world, I thought, and so I took initiative to better myself in all aspects. I had always struggled in the gym and with my diet, so I began to focus on the proper nourishment my body desperately needed, and envisioned myself in the strong physique I had always longed for. As a result, I began to work out more efficiently in the gym, which lessened my compulsive emotional eating. Instead of lying in bed grieving, I thought fervently about my aptitude, and began to write new music. I even finished composing songs I had begun to write when I was fifteen, which for me, was colossal. Instead of being bitter about all that had gone wrong in my life, I bought books on music marketing and placed an emphasis on educating myself. I began to create set lists of songs for open mics, searching for a band to play with me during live performances, and putting together an album to share with fans. Instead of running away from my music, I began to play and immerse myself in it. As the stress from the lack of focus on my music began to diminish, my grades improved and I sincerely began to enjoy and appreciate school. In class, instead of thinking of what I would rather be doing, I began to think how as an artist, it is important to possess a well of knowledge; inspiration can come from anywhere, at anytime, from anyone. These were all simple tasks I had been avoiding for years, and by placing my energy and dominant thoughts on what I wanted most (to be a touring musician with a solid education and a healthy lifestyle), I began to gravitate toward becoming just that. 
  The Law of Attraction had permitted me one thing I had been yearning for: internal peace, which I found in perceiving what had happened had happened, I was young, and I could do whatever I thought I was capable of doing. I finally have started to become the human being I had always wanted to become: strong, independent, vigorous, hard working, balanced, and foremost, focused. I am ready this life, and I have made this my authoritative thought. As a result, my life has become ready for me.

Dreams

Leroy Parker

"Leroy, don't ask any questions. Just gather your stuff and get in the car." Those were the two sentences I never thought I would hear come out of my mother’s mouth. In 2008, my world was torn apart inside and out as my family was physically splitting at the seams. A family built on the values of honesty and purity had now been desolated at the hands of lust. We learned on the night of my 10th birthday, that our mother was having an affair. Despite the dark world my family was entering, enduring this struggle was gradually becoming a lifelong lesson that I needed. My family reached its breaking point once my parents separated. We had gradually fallen under the influence of alcoholism, drug abuse, and physical violence amongst my siblings and I. I knew I could not let this define who I am. My parents have always emphasized the importance of excelling in education; strongly under the influence that they themselves failed to attend college.
One night my siblings and I woke up to screaming and banging coming from our garage. All we could hear was our father and mother yelling at the top their lungs at one another. Occasionally my parents argued but not to this extent; where we heard objects being thrown around. The feeling of numbness flowed through my entire body. Terrified to the point that I could no longer move. The only thought occurring in my head was that this quite possibly could be our last night together as a family, so my immediate reaction was to hold my siblings as tears streamed down our faces.  Anger, sadness, and shock cannot equate to the emotions I was having at that moment. As my family started separating the essence of hate built up towards my mother. I’ll never forget the incident when I got in my mother’s face screaming and my older brother punched me. As I was laying on the ground blood began profusely coming out of my nose, everything was a blur. That was until I looked over and everything became clear. I saw my little brother and sister looking at me, crying, in utter shock. I could see the fear in their eyes and the breaking of their hearts. Our family was broken and I was breaking it even more.
Looking back on this situation, I would not be the person I am today without overcoming this daunting time. My strength and will were tested daily. I am not only proud of my academic achievements, but also my development as a person. Growing up I was always the quiet kid in the corner that many bullied. But with the pain that was consuming me, I learned that I must stand up for myself. With that being said, my maturity developed as I learned that I must not react on instinct. Rather make the responsible decision. The idea of “think first, act later” was once so foreign to me. As a 10-year-old becoming the primary source of guidance made me grow up much sooner than I should have. At first I thought “How could I take on the responsibility of guiding my siblings, since I had so much to learn myself?” But as time went on my education and drive for my future began to flourish. The perception of excelling in school previously being an “option;” now became a “must”. Attending Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University and being a first-generation college student will be my key to building a better future for not only myself, but also my family.
Academic excellence has always been a huge point of emphasis of mine. I am currently ranked number three in my class allowing me to attain prestigious awards such as Superintendent’s List, which requires a student to have above a 4.0 GPA throughout the course of high school. A vast involvement in extracurricular activities, such as varsity football, marching band, National Honors Society, and Student Government have instilled core values like responsibility, discipline, respect, and diligence. These values have made me the student I am today. It is apparent that many in family still place their hope in the greater good of my future. Although this serves as my motivation, I have come to the realization that I am the only one that can make this “hope” a reality. Nobody controls my path in life except for myself. Typically, people would dwell on the negative in their past, but the fact that I have only grown both academically and in maturity is what sets me apart from my peers. I am now stronger because if I could make it through that situation at only 10-years-old, I can overcome anything.  My dreams are in the palm of my hand and now it is time to grab them.

Being The Change

Shaelyn Waite

​Waking up at 6 in the morning is not pleasant. Waking up at 6 in the morning to go to a 14-hour shift is painful. Waking up at 6 in the morning to go to a 14-hour shift and work with a difficult boss is downright intolerable. Life became unlivable. I felt stuck. I was miserable at work and when I was not at work, I was stressing about going back to work. After a few months, I began to feel depressed.
I learned a valuable life lesson. If one is not happy with their life, change it. I took matters into my own hands. I began to look for a new job.
Could not Control: Needing money for life payments.
Could Control: Where I work
At first I had no success. Despite my rejections, I felt hope! I felt hope because I was taking charge and not waiting for life to change on its own. I was not blaming my boss for making my life miserable but instead focusing on my attitude toward the situation.
A few months later I found a job that I love more than all of my passed jobs. I currently am working at a funeral home where I am able to help families plan funerals for their deceased loved ones. I feel love and compassion for my clients who are suffering and hurting. I enjoy working and serving those that surround me. This job works around my school schedule, great work environment, and I get to speak Spanish.
I learned that I have more control over my life than I thought. I learned that if I am not happy with something, change it.

Anxiety

Olivia Napolitano​

All my life I have been riddled with a monster so many have faced: anxiety. I have been a worrier since I was a young child. When I was a kid it was little things like “Do they like me,” or “Am I weird,” because I did not want to be left out or forgotten. I wanted to fit in and be like all the “cool kids” since I knew those who were not a part, were made fun of and bullied. I felt like it was normal behavior at the time to be worried about stuff like that because I did not have much else to think about. Since then, it enveloped into something greater. As I grew, the more I participated in school, church, sports, and as I participated more, the more my stress grew with it.
In high school, people saw me from the outside as this bubbly, overachieving girl. That is not how I felt on the inside. I was dying inside. I wished to be a child again with less stress. I still worried about whether or not people liked me, but mostly I freaked about my grades. I had never gotten anything lower than an ‘A’ in any of my classes since grade school. I was challenging myself not only academically due to the International Baccalaureate classes and Honors classes, but also in extracurricular activities. I was an officer for FFA (Future Farmers of America), Treasurer for Student Council, member of National Honors Society, Culture Club, and also played varsity volleyball and varsity tennis. I had more than enough to balance on my plate. I cried every night. I was stressed beyond capacity. I had mountains of homework every night to add on to my practices or meetings. My grades were slowly going down because of the tough curriculum even though I was trying my best. I did all my homework for hours every night. I studied harder than I ever had for all the tests. However, I was not holding myself to a high enough standard.  For the first time I had gotten not only one B, but three. That was where I kind of gave up. I knew it was too late to fix my grades. I stopped caring about everything. I was begging my parents to let me drop the International Baccalaureate classes or let me do online school. I did not want to see my friends and I could still play sports through online. It seemed like a perfect solution. The only thing was, deep down I knew I would miss my clubs even if I kept saying I would not.
My extracurricular activities were what made going to school worth it. I loved being an officer in Future Farmers of America. Agriculture was a passion of mine. My brothers, dad, and Papa were a part of it. Then there was Student Council which was my favorite. I got to help make all the decisions for the school. Then there was National Honors Society which looked great on college applications. Lastly, there was the culture club. We were going on a trip to the Mediterranean coast. That trip meant the world to me. All of these clubs helped me escape the stress of school and my grades. It did not last though. I ended up dreading going to each meeting or function. My anxiety took over and I spent more time crying then with people.
However, one day my lovely mother sat down and had a talk with me. She asked me why I was so stressed over things that I could not fix.” I did not have an answer for her. She explained further stating how proud her and my dad were of me. She told me it was okay to drop the IB classes. My mom explained that if I was not personally able to fix something, that I should not be anxious over it. There is nothing I can do in those type of situations. I am powerless. It finally clicked: I could not control everything.
Once I had that mindset, I knew I needed to only focus on things in my power. Maybe I could not bring my grades up, but I could still try. I could try to give my all to my sports. I could try in all my extracurricular to be a leader. This changed gave so much freedom to my soul. I was truly happy again. I exceeded in the non-IB classes, and even in some International Baccalaureate classes. Giving it all to my sports also paid off. My team for volleyball made it to final four in state. Also in tennis my team did the same, and my doubles partner and I placed third in state. Those wins boosted my morale. I was even noticed for my leadership in my clubs. Kids would come to me how I did a good job. Overall, even though parts of the year were an awful time for me, to this day I will never forget to only “focus on the things that I can control.” I may have ended that year with keeping those three B’s, but also keeping my happiness because of eight simple words.

My Thoughts on The Power of Positive Thinking

Nicholas C. Guzy
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           Negative thinking is a plague that I have seen sweep over the people I’ve grown up with throughout my entire life. There have been a select few that taught me how to think positively even when you don’t believe in yourself. Magic happens when you give yourself the power of positive thinking and that is the magic of transformation. To understand the remedy of positive thinking we have to understand the sickness of doubt.
           Doubt is a sickness that has plagued the underdogs, the poor, and the middle class. It finds its way inside the brain of these people because they are told that they aren’t as good as the top tier that control all the rules, jobs, and hold public office. To become bigger than you were once before it takes believing in yourself and telling yourself that you are better than how people perceive you and to make them see that. Some people love seeing us succeed but many people feel threatened by the success of others and this is when the seed of doubt tries to be planted by others and it must be eradicated by the magic of positivity.
Growing up I’ve had many people tell me that I didn’t need to go to college or that I couldn’t go. I have struggled with hearing all my life that I’m not good enough or that I should change something about myself but it was when I met my friend Patrick Nelson that I learned what it meant to fake it until you make it. It wasn’t just trying to make others believe that you were just fine the way you were but it meant making yourself believe that you were already the perfect self you wanted to be. He taught me the way of the Buddha opening my eyes to chakras and energy and how they work in the world. The power of positivity loosely states that if you put good out you’ll get good in and that is something that I have witnessed firsthand. I have worked in the food service industry for the last 6 years of my life and I can’t even count on both of my hands how many times I’ve been positive towards a customer and at least one of three things would happen. They would go from looking sad to happy, they would infect other people around them with happiness because of our interaction, or they would even say thank you I’m actually going to have a good day now because of how you’ve treated me. This is just one way the power of being positive affects life; it can affect your own life in a much more direct way. Good things happen to you because of the collection of all your experiences throughout your entire life and you have a hand in making it so. I like to call this the snowball effect of smiles. If you start your day out with one good thing the chances of having another good thing happen increase and again after that and eventually you come to this tipping point where you have created this happy bubble so large around you that you’re going to make everything around you a good experience that the bad doesn’t even have a chance to find its way inside. Now this is a really simple way to have a good day but what that means is having more good days and having the opportunity to meet more people to help you on your journey to achieving the self-image you’ve already set in your mind. My point from before is that we already are as we view ourselves in our mind but maybe we just are unrefined and need to take more steps to fully be realized by our peers until we reach that point of evident success.
           During my life I’ve been riddled with self-doubt that I wasn’t good enough for a degree, have a better paying job, and wasn’t good enough to make a difference in the world but over the last four years I’ve learned to tell myself that I am good enough to do these things and in doing so I have been making steps in the right direction to make these things happen. I have held positions of power, became a manager at two jobs and am about to be a manager at a third, and have completed two full years of my degree even though it has taken me longer than two years to do it. People like me who face adversity on a daily basis need to hold themselves up high and show the world that they are better than bottom of the barrel. This is the power of positive thinking and it will take you to places you only read about.

5:00am

Matthew Dietz
​ASU

Waking up at 5:00am isn’t fun for a college sports prospect. You start with foggy vision that aches each time you start to blink. As you start to move out of bed your muscles throb with fury as the result of yesterday’s practice.  You move closer to the edge of the bed but begin to feel the smooth sheets and fluffy pillows pull you back. Some days it can seem impossible to leave the bed, but you the closer the clock gets to the start of your class or work day the less comfortable you begin to feel. Whether you are an adult going to work or a 210 lb. college linebacker prospect getting ready for the first workout of the day, the time you get up in the morning is the first decision made in the day. My mindset always has been the earlier you are up in the morning the more time you have to work hard throughout the day. In my case, the reward of being the best football player I could be outweighed the price of sleeping in.
            Unfortunately, I never had the power to adjust the time practices starts in the morning.  If I did have the power, practice wouldn’t be held that early! However, I knew there was an end goal to my sleep woes that would make it all worth it, becoming a college football player.
            It took 5 years of work. 5 years of my youth compressed with protein shakes, two-a-days (two workouts per day), recruiting camps, film study, highlight film manufacturing, less sleep, and personal development to get to where I was at the start of my senior year in high school. My body was in the best shape I had ever been in, my football knowledge was crisp, and I was a developed young man ready to take the stage in my final High School football season and lead the Pinnacle Pioneers to their first state title, and earn a scholarship doing it. 
            My goals weren’t fueled by pseudo-confidence by any means. We were a good team. As the year went on, the 2012 Pinnacle Pioneers gained tons of notoriety for being a frisky defensive team with an aggressive rushing offense that completed the regular season at 8 wins and 2 losses. Going into the post-season, we had the chance to host a playoff game against Westview high school and start our playoff run. However, my health wasn’t so sharp going into the game.
            Since the 2nd game of the 2012 season, I had been nursing a right knee injury that had kept me from playing at full potential. Throughout the season the the pain was manageable because it was intermittent, but what I felt during playoff game-on 11/02/2012-was different, worse. The cold November weather tightened up my muscles and joints more that day because each step taken shot even more pain through the anterior of my knee. I felt like a car driving with a broken suspension. My right knee hydraulic stopped working and every step felt as uncomfortable as a rusty nail screeching across a chalkboard.
            Then the worst happened. I went down and couldn’t get up. Not only did my right knee give out but my left knee was hit directly with another helmet. To this point in my athletic career there has been numerous moments of negativity in the company of adversity, but I have found prosperity in the chaos of doubt before.
            Adversity is never easy to overcome though. Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth”, and in that moment its hard to not let negativity and fear overwhelm you. I was scared, I will admit that; I even cried because never has an injury held me back from playing in a game before. I thought my college football hopes were over as I was helped off the field. The Power of Positivity is a strong force though-in life and in football-and whatever the prognosis was, I would remain positive.
            The MRI results can back several days later and showed I had torn bilateral patellar tendons. I was shocked and could feel my college football stock slipping, but a glimpse of my positive core remained. I wasn’t ready to give up on my dream and wipe away 5 years of pounding protein shakes, hard work, getting up at 5:00am to train, and most importantly 5 years of thinking positive while working toward my goal.
            My favorite quote of all time is said by Confucius, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Needless to say, months later, I earned my scholarships I wanted and is still one of the most precious glories I have ever had and will always treasure. 

How I Find the Special Thing of My Life

Nguyen Nguyen

​Steve Jobs said, “Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” Since I read this speech, I always believed, “There will be another chance after that crisis.” I try to maintain a positive attitude, I used it to conquer the biggest failure of my life.
            I was born in Vietnam and my family was very traditional. My father was a head son of a long-time family, so I was supposed to become the next head son in my family. Especially, I was the only son in my family. All my cousins were girls, so people counted on me very much. People said I would become the face of the family soon. With their expectation, I had to be the best in everything. Because I was still a young boy, my studying was the most priority thing with them. I woke up at 6 am and went home at 10 pm every day. After studying at school, I went to my teachers’ houses for more studying. People in my family wanted me to get ahead of all other kids my age.
            Truthfully, I did not disappoint them. I was very successful in school. My best subject in school was Math. In the high school entrance exam for my city, I had the highest score. I was chosen for a special program representing the math team in my city. My rank was 30/100 in that Math Team. I got into the second best high school in Ho Chi Minh city. People in my family were very proud of me. This was the best time of my life.
Like all stories in the world, I fell off that high mountain of achievement. I failed in the Olympic Math Contest of South Vietnam. It was designed to choose who could keep going on the Math Professional way. After failing that contest, everything closed to me. I could not attend any bigger Math Contests anymore. It was a shock with me. Imagine, you have learned only Math since you were 3rd grade. All things you have in your life - compliments, admiration, proud - came from Math. At that time, I lost everything. I could not see any hopes in my future.
Since that failure, I had more time in my life. I did not have to study as much as I used to do. I had more free time in my life. I used it in reading books. The first book I read was “Steve Jobs – The Power of Thinking Different” by a Vietnamese author. I also read Steve Jobs’s graduation speech. Since that time, my life turned a new page. I had choices, I could choose to live with my failure or rise up. Fortunately, I chose to rise up.
I began my new journey by finding another thing I could be passionate about. I wanted to find a thing that I could do the rest of my life. It was not easy to find that special thing, but I was not in a rush. I went slowly on my daily life and noticed things I never noticed before. I quit the mad race. I woke up every day and came to school with a question in my mind, “what do I love most in my life?” I rode my motorbike through the roads of my city. I came back to old places where I had a lot of memories. I tried my best to find that special thing.
One day, I realized what I loved most in my life were street foods of my country. Because I could not get home for lunch and dinner, I have eaten street foods since I was a young boy. I found out that I also love serving people too. I wanted to see their smiles and happiness after eating my foods. I wanted to give them the most valuable thing in this world – the warmth of love in my dishes.  I also knew all the ways to cook those street foods. Especially, I had a special and exotic culture to share with this world – Vietnamese Street Food.
I decided to come to the U.S. A lot of people prevented me and said, “U.S dreams die.” However, they did not know that this was not the first of my dreams to die. I stood up and was stronger than I was before. I set a plan for myself to achieve my dream. I wanted to open a chain of Vietnamese Street Foods restaurants in America. I worked very hard in high school and got into Johnson & Wales University with a scholarship. My   major was Hotel Management. I believed that these skills will help me to build a chain of restaurants.
Jack Ma said, “Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” I know there will be more obstacles on my new way. I will fail again. Fortunately, I am not scared of failure anymore because I believe that there will be a bright future waiting for me after that. I always stay optimistic. I head up into a new race. There will be tears, and blood, but I will never fear anymore. I will go on my new road with faith in a bright future.

The Visions of a Scholar

De'Shounda Raymond

​On the first Thursday morning in September 1997, I was born. This was September 4th, 1997. I was not created purposely, but was the accident of a naive teenager and an irresponsible adult. When I was born, my mother was seventeen years old and my father was twenty-eight years of age. They are Nora and Frederick  My mother was not equipped to take care of a child at that age, so I ended up in the care of my loving grandparents. My grandmother’s name is Dorothy and my grandfather’s name was Jimmy. By the time my mother was pregnant with her last child, my sister Nyla, me and my brother Reginald were legally under the guardianship of my grandma and my grandpa had passed away in the year 1999. When my sister was born in 2002, my mom willingly gave her to my grandma. Later down the road, my grandma was also taking care of two of my other cousins.
It was hard growing up in a household with six people and only three bedrooms and one bathroom. It was hell. The older I grew, the more depressed I became. By the time that I turned twelve, I would barely sleep, I ate non-stop, I was bullied in school, and I was immersed in books. When I was old enough to realize that the situation that I was in was unlike others and that my family was worse than poor, I made a promise to myself. I would be successful. I wouldn’t let my situation depress to the point that I would think that there was no other way to get out. I knew that I wasn’t stuck in my position. I also knew that the only way out would be to continue my education. So, I continued to read everything and anything that I could get my hands on.
When I was eight, my sister, brother, my cousin Jimmy II, and myself were put into Foster Care. That wasn’t the first time for my brother and me. Our first time was when he was in an accident caused by our mom and his dad when he was a newborn. That was when my mom lost custody of us. We didn’t know that we were there that first time until recently. The second time, I remember perfectly. I was eight, my sister was three and my brother and cousin were both five. They split the boys and girls apart and I rarely got to see them or the rest of my family. We would have scheduled visits to see them every couple of weeks. I remember going even deeper into my depression until I wouldn’t speak anymore. Those six months were very hard for me.
 By the second grade, I was reading at an eighth grade level.  During those times, I found my love for numbers. I had somehow gotten ahold of a math textbook that was far past my levels of understanding. I disliked, and still dislike, not understanding something. To me, it shows incompetence, and I never want to feel inferior. So, I taught myself everything that was in that book. My passion for math is something I don’t understand still. Perhaps I like it because it's practical. Plus, there’s a straightforward answer for every equation. It’s simple and to the point, I take comfort in that.
I grew up in East Saint Louis. This community is drug ridden and poverty stricken. I didn’t want to live there. I hated to go places and tell people “I’m from East Saint Louis”. I was ashamed of my origins. I was ashamed of my household. I was ashamed of my family. Looking back at how I saw my family and household, I feel disappointed in myself. I knew then, just like I know now, that my grandmother is doing all that she can for us. She stopped going to school in the seventh grade and she can’t work because of an impairment. This, I knew, but I still put some of the blame on her about how we live. She loves us with her entire soul. I regret every single word that I said about our predicament. I’m just grateful that she cared enough to take care of my brother, sister, cousins and myself. She could have easily let us get lost in the system. I will make everything up to her, as I owe my future success to her care and nurturing.
Now, we live in Cahokia, Illinois. Yet, it's no better than East Saint Louis. I’m not as depressed as I was before. Or, perhaps I try to make myself believe that. I tell myself that if I force myself to smile and laugh, then one day it will become genuine. I believe that it’s getting closer and closer to the truth, because, I can see a bright future for myself. When I leave campus for breaks and weekends, it's like a reminder to myself. I can’t give up on myself. No matter how hard, or expensive college gets, I must prevail. It is a must because I never want to end up how my family did. I want to do all that I can to help them. I also try to get my younger cousins and siblings on campus as much as I can. I am the eldest grandchild, so they look up to me. I want to show them that there is a better way of living and they don’t have to continue with the lifestyle that they have. I strive to give them hope. That is my aspiration, this is my goal. I want to show them what success looks like. I will do everything in my power to do just that.
To achieve my goals, I will continue my education. If I run out of money and funds to pay for it, I will join the military and pay for it that way. I have studied hard my entire life. I have always forced myself to take the most rigorous courses and to push myself to my limit. I have felt great pain and guilt for even just getting a C on a midterm, or having too many B’s on a report card. My limit is two and even saddened to say that. I will not stop doing those things just because I am in college and have so called ‘freedom’. I never had it, because I disciplined myself. The only difference between now and then is that whenever I am finished with work and have nothing to worry about studying for, I reward myself. The first time I ever went to a party was here on campus. I went to my second ever football game here. I won’t let theses things distract me from my initial goal though. My family will always come first, even before myself. Also to achieve my goals, the first steps I will take are to maintain my gpa, build connections with my professors, and look for internships. I will keep my gpa afloat by studying harder and practically living in the library. I hope to build lasting connections with the professors who teach any of the business classes. These are some of the people that I need to connect with, because networking is a key to prosperity. I also hope to intern somewhere soon. My goal is to get not only experience within my field, but also to create strong ties with some of the leading individuals.
To sustain my visions for my future, I think of my family. I know that they deserve better. So, I will give them what they deserve. I don’t even think that they know that I think of them in the manner that I do. I know that they understand that I care for and love them. I’m sure though, that they don’t know that I look to them for mental support. They are the reason that I strive the way I do. Most of my attention is focused on the younger people in my family. I know that their minds can still be sculpted to follow in footsteps similar to mines. I don’t believe that college is right for everyone, but what I want for them is to dream of doing something with their lives. Then, I want them to follow those dreams. I want to make that type of impact on them.
 Sadly, I believe that I am losing my brother and cousin. They are both sixteen years old and I can tell that they are going down a path that is very similar to other African American youths in our community. This information scares me and makes me feel like somewhat of a failure. It scares me because they no longer see a bright future for themselves. They’ve given up on school and they’re always finding trouble. It makes me feel like a failure because I gave myself the job of trying to be a person that they could look up to. Honestly, I had very little control of that. They are very proud of me, but I am not an African American male. There is only so much that I can do. I hope to, somehow get them back on the right track. On the other hand, I think that I am doing quite well with my little sister and cousins Deanna and Ty’Shounda. Nyla, my sister, is so much like me. When I watch her, it's like I’m watching my past. She’s maintaining her grades, she is reading everything, and she draws just as much as I used to. I am not happy that she is like me, I am proud that she is looking up to me. The only thing that I have wanted was to be a positive influence and I am succeeding with her. Deanna is such a sweetheart. She is my grandmother’s third grandchild. I remember growing up, she followed me around everywhere. When we were small children, she called me ‘bebama’, because she couldn't pronounce ‘De’Shounda’. I am surprised that she thinks of me so highly. I am only two years older than she is. Ty’Shounda, the second grandchild surprises me the most. She is only eight months younger than me. Whenever they come to see me, Deanna and Ty’Shounda are the first ones out of the car and into my arms. We grew up so close to each other. We were raised like sisters rather than cousins. I know that I have influenced them. They had both decide to attend community college to stay close to their mother, my aunt La’Shounda. After seeing me go away for college, Ty’Shounda now wants to transfer and Deanna no longer wants to go to a community college after she graduates.
So, to sustain my vision, I look to my family, they are my inspiration. The love I have for them is what helps fuel my desire for success. They are the ones I look to when I’m sad, when I need support, when I’m happy and want to share good news, when things are going horrible for me, and whenever I just need someone to talk to. I know that they can’t do much for me financially, but everywhere else, they always come through. My family is my incentive to be a leader and follow my dreams and goals. 

The Law of Attraction

Zachery Berry
​ASU

The Law of Attraction states, that what you are seeking is also seeking you. It’s almost like a fluid, moving body of water, staying its course just long enough to make it to the ocean. That’s where they were destined to meet. Of course, it isn’t always easy. Tractive forces must be strong enough to get the body over each barrier. Whether it’s the dirt, or the barren landscape in front of its, eventually the river cuts through. Little by little, until the river meets the ocean. Going on its course, until it finds where it feels most at home, that’s attraction. Never open minded for a separate goal. Water doesn’t go up, it follows gravity, flowing down the path of least resistance until it ends up where it in fact needs to be. If I wanted to be a great musician I would simply need to start working my way towards playing music. Listening to it, feeling it and then when the timing is right, practice putting my fingers through the motions. Little by little, the notes make an ocean. Flowing like water, buoyant, but focused. If you put your mind into achieving the things you want, you’ll find them. Otherwise, you’d never have the urge to flow. Not unless acted by another force anyway, not unless called by a different goal. This is what steered be down into the wrong valley. I became divorced; afraid. Then right there, I felt something tug, it wasn’t a new romance, it was almost just a breeze. So, I followed it, because greater men than me had talked about listening to it. Then almost as if a dream, I woke up knowing full well that on the other end of chasing this dream, I’ll find what it is I’m looking for. The ocean, to my meandering stream.
            Collected thoughts of days old shoved in boxes and I moved to try and start again. When I began unpacking, I saw the pieces of what I could have been, what I told myself I’d be. As I pulled out each piece, a reminder flashed before my eyes. A history of every idea and every question I had never fully answered. To me, alone in that room, with only my failed dreams I saw one goal. To secure the opportunity for me to become the man that my son needs me to be. To display honor, courage and self-sacrifice. To find the love that I’d dreamed would lay down in the grass to classical music when all of this is said and done. I want to stare at the clouds knowing that if I die, I brought bliss to others. I want to walk the pavement, seeing memories of me collecting trash on the ground, or of the birds I had witnessed at that location. The truth is, I want great things for the world, like an endless beauty. What we seek is doing the same. It’s supposed to. If I dream of a huge accomplishment, like saving the world, eventually it would come to fruition, correct?
            So, I cherished it. Every moment, every lesson. Found my heart, and then was blessed. I walked up to that garden and asked some guy for a fishnet. Fast-forward a year and a half and I had planted more plants there and lured more birds than I think most people have in their whole life. There it was though. Right in front of everyone’s eyes. The code, as I saw it. The balance of the ecosystem, as I toiled away with. So many hours spent gardening, but all that I could do keep growing. Hardly with enough time to pass my classes and get a chance to take it all in, just like that, it was gone. I graduated from Chandler-Gilbert Community College with an Associates in Science, saying farewell to those I learned to love along the way. The seeds were sown, the stories and ideas where told. The next venture had to come soon. I hear the breeze quieting down now. I feel peaceful, knowing that from here on out I can trust that if I pursue this goal, it will do the same. For when I’m done and can without a shred of doubt declare myself a conservationist, in a humble tone, I’ll see her right there. As if I knew her all along. As if the feeling she gives will just radiate from meeting her. Sadly though, the obstacle exists in that, if distracted for too long from this goal, if I never complete it, if I never come close, will I meet her? For me, that’s something that I’ll anticipate never having the regret of knowing. If I die a lonely man, I’ll die chasing a dream. If I die chasing a dream, someone else will see it. Someone else may find their attraction in it and if I died a hero, the legacy remains.
            That’s the secret that no one ever wants to tell you. To follow the breeze, because it’s creepy to say it that way. It’s far too spiritual or religious. But be crazy, because it’s working for me. I’m finding out, little by little, that if I truly want a life of peace for everyone but myself, eventually, entropy will steer the energy my way. Without greed, I must embrace it. Without fear I must chase it. Because on the other side, is the serenity we are all truly after. On the other side of attraction. 

The Power of Positive Thinking

Bethany Harvey
​ASU

My mother sat my sisters and me down at the kitchen table to tell us that she was leaving our father.  She told us that she had met someone else, but we knew more than what she was telling.  Her deep depression left her longing for something more and her new love interest provided her with a numbing agent that helped her forget all of her life struggles and sorrows – cocaine.  Shortly after her departure, my father was so overcome by his grief that he only found solace in his alcohol.  I was only seven at the time of my parent’s separation, yet I was still able to understand the full ramifications of their inability to appreciate life enough to overcome their circumstances and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Since that time, I moved countless times between Mississippi and Arkansas, ping-ponging from family member to family member and I never quite felt at home anywhere.  I remember so vividly the day I saw my homeless father walking down the street.  I was riding in a car with my Aunt, and I felt pure sadness from seeing him so destitute.  How had my father succumbed to his addiction?  He had no one or anything in his life that he felt was worth overcoming his circumstances and it broke my heart.  I screamed for my Aunt to turn around, to save my father from his loneliness and suffering, yet she stood fast, determined to let him ‘pay’ for the decisions he made in his life.  Now as an adult, I understand her reasoning and the old adage of having to ‘hit rock bottom’ before rising to the top again.
 When I was a senior in high school, I attempted to successfully live with my mother because I thought she had changed.  Upon moving in with my mother and stepfather, they dictated that I must get a job and start helping to pay my way in the household, which meant helping to pay the mortgage and purchasing my own groceries.  I obtained a part time job at a local grocery store, working nights but at $5.50 an hour, I still was not able to meet my mother’s expectations.  I felt so much pressure from my family to achieve financial stability that I quit high school and picked up a second job as a daycare assistant.  With the two jobs combined I worked from 6:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night.  I did not have any downtime and while other teenagers my age were going to the movies and borrowing money from their parents, I was giving money to mine.  I had to make sure my mother and my younger siblings continued to have the things they needed.
After roughly six months of working tirelessly, I caught my mother doing drugs again with my stepfather.  I was devastated and once again heart broken.  I had put my life and my future aside to help take care of them, while my mother did not have a job and merely wanted to use me for her own selfish reasons.  I moved out of her home and into the home of my best friend’s family and they resolved to take care of me from there on out.  What a wonderful family they were!  My new goal in life was to graduate high school, go to college, and make a productive life for myself.  I re-enrolled at my high school, but found out that I would be too behind on credits to graduate in 2006.  In order to graduate with my original class, the school recommended that I take make-up courses from Mississippi State University that would help me achieve the required state courses for graduation.  In addition, I had to pass the art requirement for all seniors, so one teacher allowed me to stay after school every day to make up all of the assignments I had missed.
                With hard work, persistence, and positive thinking, I was not only able to accomplish my goals and graduate high school with my peers, but I was also able to graduate with Honors.  Throughout my journey, I almost thought it would not have been reasonably possible to accomplish such a lofty goal, but I know that my ability to envision my future and what it would take to get there would require me to stay positive and stay on task.  I went on to receive additional awards as well as a few scholarships from the private college I wanted to attend and I was officially the first person within my immediate family to continue my education past high school.  In fact, I was the first person to graduate from high school!
                Today my life has continued to thrive because of the same positive thinking that got me through my childhood and young adulthood.  I started working for a top corporate company (DIRECTV, now AT&T) and I have now been employed with them for nine years.  I have accepted four promotional opportunities within the organization and one of those promotions enabled me to move out of Mississippi and continue my career growth in Phoenix, AZ.  My life was never easy, yet I have come to fully understand and realize that positive thinking has an overwhelming power to change life’s circumstances.    The time’s I have been negative and feeling down only created a spider web of discontent and failures, so every day I choose to remain positive and upbeat, even if things do not go my way.  Life will continue to offer its disappointments and struggles, but I will always remember that I have a choice in how I react and what I do with my energy.  When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

The Power of Positive Thinking

Allison Cravens
ASU

            Despite all of the nerves and anxieties I felt on my first day walking into a lecture hall at Arizona State University, the one thing that kept me feeling okay was staying positive. To be honest, that is what completely got me through my first semester of college – and what has always gotten me through in life. I powerfully believe that having a positive mind brings positive events and actions to one’s life. If everyone in this world focused on exuding love, happiness, and positivity, it would be a much better place. On the contrary, I used to not always have this mind set – and sometimes I still stray away from it. It is not as relaxed as it sounds, especially when life can get really rigid sometimes; and today, I am going to share one of those really tough, personal times with you.
            In the year of 2011, my family and I packed our lives away into a moving truck and moved to the sticky, hot state of Arizona. I was very blue and nervous, for I was leaving my entire childhood in the state of Washington, along with all my friends and various memories. As a kid, I was one to never really complain. I was fortunate to have grown up in an amazing home, with loving parents and the kindest of friends. Because of the happiness I maintained in my youth, I wanted to continue that onto my next adventures in Arizona. Unfortunately, since the first day of walking into my new junior high, my life was about to change drastically.
I was a young and scared 13-year-old when I moved from the damp state of Washington to the barren state of Arizona. In the damp, I was friends with almost everyone that I passed in the school halls; but in the barren, I had no one. I was all on my own, and more terrified than ever. My first two months went well- I got myself a little “boyfriend”, and had made a couple of friends. I missed home, but was adjusting pretty well. Until one scorching summer day in September, this boy broke up with me and suddenly turned into a monster. Now this is not some typical sappy heartbreak story - this boy spent every breath of his on humiliating and harassing me. He would talk so cruelly about me to others- “She is so weird and gross! Do not be friends with her! She should move back home since no one likes her!”- And to my shock, people actually believed him. He found every chance he could to make my life a living nightmare; he knew exactly where to get me. This is all where the gruesome bullying began.
            It was not only him that started the fire, but the girls who I thought were my friends too. They tortured me, called me disgusting names, and spread awful rumors with false accusations. On top of all of the verbal harassment, one day on the school bus, they circled around me screaming at me and saying awful things. I was terrified out of my mind, I thought they were going to beat me up. To make it worse, they even video tapped the entire thing and sent it out to all of their friends. This occurred for about three months, it was unbearable to me; I felt like it would never end. I simply did not understand what I had done to deserve this type of treatment – this was the type of bullying I had only seen in movies. I spent these months in a deep depression, crying every day, and hiding out in the school bathrooms.  No one close to me recognized who I was anymore, not even my own parents. I went from this bubbly and positive girl to a depressed and muggy one. It got so bad to the point where one evening I took a bottle of my mom’s pills, and attempted to over dose on them because I could not handle the pain anymore. Thankfully, my parents caught me and were able stop me before anything happened. I believed this fire would never burn out, unless I did it myself. It was the lowest I have ever felt in my life.
            After six months of the cruel bullying, I finally made a couple of true friends. They took me in and made me feel special again. They stood up for me, and taught me to stand up for myself. Day by day, I grew strong again. My smile would get bigger and bigger by the minute. I started to feel alive, and I took action and burned the fire out. Gradually, the monsters went away, and I became lively again. I started to appreciate life more than ever, and for the people that saved me from my dark hole of anguish. I will never forget how amazing it felt to beat the depression and to beat the ones that put me into that state. The best revenge was for them to see that big smile on my face, laughing with my new friends, happy again. To see people not believe the atrocious things they said about me, and instead befriend me. I believe that this specific hardship is what has given me majority of my strength and has taught me to love life more than most, and that is what I have become to represent as a person.
            It has been five years now, and I feel more alive than ever. I am the individual I always strived to be- the bubbly, ecstatic, strong, positive girl that does not let anyone or anything tear her down. I am so in love with my life, and would not want it to have gone any other way. College has already been one of the best experiences for me, and has allowed me to meet some amazing people and really find myself. I truly believe that I would not hold the same values and traits if it were not for the monsters of my past. Whenever I am struggling, I always look back to this significant time and remind myself that I got through it, so I know I can get through anything. When things are tough, life is preparing you for the next thing- and in my case, life was preparing me to discover who I am and who I stand for. After all, it is usually just a couple of bad days, not a bad life - and today is a great day. 

Focusing on Things I Can Control

Chastity Roman

Success is not a common word in my family. I am from a family who constantly lives in a cycle of failure and who redrafts their mistakes. A family where it is not uncommon for someone to go to prison or for a cousin to get pregnant at a young age. I had to grow up around people who never had a taste of success and knew nothing more than the life they were living. They knew what was out there, but they just had no idea how to reach it.
I remember growing up and seeing my family go through hardship after hardship due to the ignorance of their own mistakes. Generation after generation the cycle kept repeating itself. My father, my biggest supporter and motivator, wanted more for me. He knew the life that his family lived was wrong, and he did not want me to make the same mistakes that he had made. The biggest problem was that he did not know how to give me more if he had nothing to give. He never finished high school and rarely went to school while growing up. He lacks a foundation and can barely read and write. Not having a high school diploma or even a GED made finding a job very difficult. This struggle has had a domino effect on his decisions. He had to provide for his family somehow, and he did it the only way he knew how, which was by making money illegally. It was not until my father went to prison that I knew I had to make a decision on how I wanted my life to turn out. My father would have talks with me and would always tell me that I should strive for a better life because the lifestyle that not only him but also his family led was not filled with success. He would say that the key to success was my education.
 This goal was hard to keep when I was constantly struggling with personal problems in my life. When I was in the eighth grade, my parents split. Before that, the only hardship that had happened to me was my dad going to jail. I never imagined that my parents would split. I constantly had to hear them arguing and fighting. I started feeling restless and was up all night trying to sleep in a house full of anger and violence. I had to stay strong for my brother and sister because I was the oldest. While carrying all this weight on my shoulders throughout middle school and into high school, I still managed to keep my grades and GPA up. Just when I thought the worst was over, my mother went off the deep end during my freshman year. She started hurting herself and has been continuously hospitalized for the past three and a half years. This setback has pushed me even harder to be successful.
I used my misfortune to push me through high school. I knew my only way out was school, so I strived to do the best that I could. I had to break this cycle that my family kept repeating. I did not want to live this life of failure and ignorance. I wanted to... No I needed to be better than the standards my family had set for themselves. I did not want to be okay with just "getting by." It led to misery and despair and to trials and tribulations. The success that I want so badly can only be reached by my success in school. The way I perform in my classes will determine my future and my hard work will be the key to my happiness. This mindset is why I continue to do well in school and why I will never stop until I can sit back and say that I made it. I want to be able to tell people my story and be satisfied with their look of surprise on how far I have come. I want to be able to say that I came from nothing and made something of myself.
 My whole life was full of ups and downs but not once did I give up or take the easy way out. The life I wanted to live was not easy to reach, but it could be reachable if I strive for it. Instead of focusing on the things I could not control, I chose to focus on what I could. This chain of events I call my life has shaped me to become the young lady I am today. Not once have I stopped fighting, and I will continue to fight till my last breath if that is what it takes. This fight will prove to not only myself but those who hold prejudice against the impoverished members of society that I am better than they say.

Achievements

Brendon Hersey

​I’m here to talk about one of the highest achievements I have accomplished. Throughout my whole child hood I was a very chubby.  I was no different than another other child, I didn’t care what I looked like because I loved food. I was the type of child then would sneak food upstairs and would keep going back for more. I was unhappy with what I looked like because I was always the big kid throughout middle school. No one ever said anything about my weight and I never got picked on. I wanted and need change for myself. I played sports my whole life growing up but I never stayed in shape because of the food I would eat when I got back. The weight never affected my performance on the field but something inside me said I need change. Going into my freshman year of high school I was weighing in at 190 lbs. That’s a big kid to only be 13. I joined the freshman football team at the high school I went to called Temecula Valley High School. My team was pretty good that year and I made a ton of new friends because I got declined a transfer to Great oak High school so I had to meet all new people. I played o-line on the team and I was the starting center. My team practiced every day 5 days a week. I knew I need and wanted change for myself so I always put 120% into every drill we did. I wanted to prove that I can do anything I put my mind to. I ended up losing 50 pounds by the end of football season because I started to put all my might into football. I weighed 140 lbs. once I lost all the weight, I have now gained 30 pounds of muscle and weigh in at 170 lbs. I go to the gym 5 days a week and have lacrosse practice 4 days a week but soon 5. The gym to me is like a playground it’s like looking around and decided what you should play today. I love the gym and never gets boring there is always something new to improve on every day. Thank you for your time and concideration.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Brooke Buckland
​ASU​

The power of positive thinking is something I really took for granted until recently. It becomes so easy to get caught up in the world of chaos and negativity, and sometimes you seem to lose yourself in the process of living life. When I was younger and would have a bad day, my mother would make me say three positive things that happened to me that day. At the time it seemed silly and unnecessary, but years later I would come to learn the importance of addressing the positive aspects of the day.
This year was the year that everything seemed to go wrong. Every plan that was put into motion fell through, and difficult obstacles kept popping up on my path. It seemed that my life this year was a constant cycle of everything falling apart and trying to adjust to the unexpected circumstances life was constantly throwing at me. Typically, it is easy for me to handle the curveballs that life throws, but this year seemed to constantly wear me down. This year I had changed schools, had moved across the country and back, and was about to start a rigorous school schedule that I was not as prepared for as I thought. As the year dragged on I could feel myself feeling worse and worse, and it was starting to show in the everyday activities of my life. I began to get frustrated more easily at my friends and family, I would get upset at things that normally would not upset me, and I began to dread activities that I usually love, such as my customer service position at my job. I would wear out more easily than normal and I was constantly exhausted from fixating on all the things that were going wrong in my life. Finally, I realized that I was not happy with the way I was acting and decided that enough is enough. In order for me to return to the happy and energized person I once was, I needed to make a dynamic change in my life. The best thing I ever did was reach out for advice from people I loved and trusted. I began talking to my mom and dad about what was bothering me and how to cope with difficulties. Their advice was helpful, but there is one thing in mind that really changed the way I view life, and that thing was a video.
People like to talk about the moment that they decided to make an active change, and I can pinpoint my moment to a TED talk video about positivity. After a conversation about overcoming obstacles with my mother, she sent me a video to watch on the power of positivity. In this video the speaker spoke about how fixating on positive aspects of day to day life will help shift your entire focus on life to a more positive one. His advice was to retrain your brain to automatically think of the good rather than the bad; his advice was to write down three things you are thankful for at the end of each night for a month. It seemed easy enough so I decided to try it. Just like when my mother used to make me state three positive things on bad days, I began to write them down regardless of the day I had. The funny thing: after a couple weeks I began to notice that throughout the day I would automatically pinpoint positive parts of my day. By the end of the night, I had well more than three moments to write down. It began to impact my attitude as well. Difficult obstacles that seemed impossible to overcome seemed that much easier, angry customers were more manageable, and life itself seemed happier again. I was excited to work again, I did better in school, and I didn’t get discouraged as often when things wouldn’t go my way. People would confide in me their troubles and I would start to point out all the good things that are going on in their lives and why everything is going to be ok. No this wasn’t the perfect cure to cope with difficulties in life, but it made a visible difference in my life. In fact, it has been three months now and I continue to write down three things I am thankful for each day because it makes me more thankful for each day and helps me get through the more difficult days. I am a happier person overall, and am a better influence on myself and the people around me. Life is never going to be perfect and there are always going to be problems, but with my newfound respect for gratitude and positive thinking, I am confident that I can overcome any obstacle that is placed in my way. 

Gautam

Nathan Chiu
University of Pennsylvania

“Hey, it’s awesome to finally meet you in person! Let me introduce you to the students and the rest of the co-founders,” my colleague Gautam said with a smile and extended arm. I shook his hand firmly.
 
“Likewise. It’s pleasure to talk to you in person,” I responded, slightly worn out by the three hour flight from Boston to Dallas. For a few moments, I looked at Gautam again. I recognized his face and voice from the hours of conference calls spent working, but for the first time, I could see his warm personality and the intensity in his eyes.
 
Gautam and I could not be more different from one another, which made working on SATUS an interesting and invaluable learning experience. Conveniently, our respective home regions matched our personalities. Like the cold Northeast, I was analytical and methodical in decision making, patient and reserved in dealing with others, and focused on my work. Like the hot South, Gautam followed his instincts without a second thought, chatted incessantly when interacting with others, and passionately chased any activity that caught his attention. I was a conservative. Gautam was a liberal. I was disciplined. Gautam was relaxed. Yet, even with these ideological and personal differences, we managed to run a successful accelerator program.
 
SATUS was an accelerator for teenage entrepreneurs that Gautam and I had worked on during the year prior. I had written the curriculum and organized the classes based off of the lean startup methodology and the business model canvas. Gautam had convinced fifteen high school students to attend SATUS over the summer and had secured a co-working space for us to hold the program. While planning for SATUS, I often grew irritated at Gautam’s laidback work ethic. It annoyed me whenever I would schedule a video call with him and he would show up 30 minutes or even an hour late. “Chill,” he would say, laughing off my complaints of his chronic tardiness. After a while, I realized that forcing Gautam to be punctual was a futile endeavor. Instead, I adjusted my schedule to accommodate his lateness. Whenever I had a conference call with Gautam at 8 pm, I would research and write another part of the SATUS curriculum until 8:30 pm, which was when Gautam usually showed up. As a result of working with Gautam, I grew more flexible and patient. To this day, rather than trying to correct someone’s habits and complaining, I choose to focus on the work and adjust to the person’s behavior.
 
During the SATUS classes themselves, our teaching styles deviated drastically as well. After the speaker delivered his or her lesson, I would walk around to the different teams, sit down for 30 minutes, and listen to them brainstorm ideas. I rarely spoke during the planning sessions, only interrupting if the students strayed too far from the task at hand or if they asked me a question. Since I saw myself more as a mentor, rather than a teacher, I tried to show students the path to creating a successful startup rather than tell them the answer.
 
“Should we offer free tutoring sessions to attract new customers?” one student would ask me.
 
“Well, how would that affect the perceived value? Would you continue using the service after using the free tutoring sessions?” I would respond.
 
“Offering the free tutoring would make it seem like we’re offering low quality tutoring. I wouldn’t use the service after the free sessions. We’ll charge a lower price instead. Thanks!”
 
Through such guidance, I helped this team win a pitch competition at a startup weekend. On the other hand, Gautam certainly had his opinions heard. He would offer his honest critiques of a team’s logo or app design. “Change the font for that logo. It look outdated,” he would say. Initially, I thought that Gautam focused too much on the aesthetics rather than the core operations of the ventures. Over time, I grew to appreciate the effort Gautam placed in improving the look and branding of the ventures. After SATUS, I was shocked to see the modern, sleek designs of all the companies’ logos and websites. I realized, in that moment, that a great product or service by itself will not sell; a venture needs both great products and branding. Prior to SATUS, I would always dismiss logos and designs as secondary to figuring out how the business worked. However, through experiencing Gautam’s creativity, I can appreciate the value of a business’s image.
 
Through changing my mentality towards working with others, I manage to reconcile different working habits and bring out the best in my colleagues. Therefore, expressing positivity and gratitude towards others is essential in achieving great feats just as we did in SATUS.
 
While, I can’t say that I changed as a person because of SATUS and Gautam, I can say that I have become more open-minded to working with enthusiastic and creative people. Regardless of who I work with, I am confident that in college, I will be able to collaborate with a team to create something amazing through conveying positivity and gratitude.

Written Voice Thread

Megan Zimbelman
​
When I was in 6th grade my family moved to Florida and we reconnected with my grandpa and met his wife who we called Nana. Things were going well until a tragic event happened. Basically my grandpa shot my nana in the stomach. I wrote a poem about it that I would like to read to you.
Cop approaching
Mother’s worried.
What is going on?
Sirens blaring, helicopter hovering.
10 or more cop cars parking.
Dogs go crazy,
Mom is crying.
Nana pulled on stretcher,
We run over.
Questioned by cops,
All very nice.
Nana put into chopper,
Air vacced to hospital.
Go back inside,
A cop stays with us.
Why?
All over the news,
Small town.
Everyone at school knows.
“It had nothing to do with you, hold your head high.”
Everyone knows
That’s my grandpa.
The media exploited me. Small town. Small school. My life broadcasted.
He is still my grandpa. I can’t change that.
People know without my consent. No say in the matter, thanks to the news. That’s what you get for living in a small town.
That is a representation of what went through my mind during the time of the shooting.
While there are many details I could go into that might make the situation clearer, that is not the point of this story. The important thing is to explain what I learned through this. With everyone knowing and living in a small town, it really stressed me out. It stressed me out that people associated me with someone who could do something like that to their wife. There were whispers in students. I am sure teachers were talking about it. The neighbors definitely knew about and had things to say. This made me anxious. I did not want to be known as someone who could do something even remotely like that, which didn’t even make sense. I had nothing to do with this. But that is what I came to terms with. I had no control over what happened. Let the kids in class talk about me, let the neighbors whisper… The truth is that I am completely separate from my grandpa and his actions do not define me. Once I accepted this truth it really freed me. I didn’t need to be ashamed of what my grandpa had done because it had no reflection on me. I focused from then on, on what I could control and what I could do with the situation. I decided to make the situation grow me. I could control how I reacted to the situation and how I wanted to carry the story with me. Now when I start stressing about things, I think back to this. I now know that there is no point in worrying over things you cannot control. In regards to my grandpa, I knew the main thing I had power over was forgiving him or not. It was difficult and even awkward to face him after about a month and tell him I still love him, but I knew it was the one thing I had control over. Our relationship began to mend and my grandpa’s name and my family’s fell out of the town’s drama almost as soon as it had arrived.

Selective Mutism

Michael Jones
​ASU

My story began when I was 3. My parents noticed that I did not have verbal skills that most children my age did.  My pediatrician assured my parents that I was probably just shy and to give me time to come out of my shell.  I only spoke to my nucleus family consisting of my parents, sister, grandma and my cousin who was just a year older than myself.  I never enjoyed leaving my home to go on outings.  I preferred the comfort and solitude of my house.   When I started preschool, my teachers noticed that I would never engage with my peers nor make eye contact with anyone.  The teachers suggested I be seen by a speech therapist to be evaluated.  Being nonverbal, the therapist had difficulty in properly diagnosing me.  After seeking other professional evaluations, it was discovered that I suffered from a condition called “Selective Mutism”.  Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder in which a person who is normally capable of speech does not speak in specific situations or to specific people.
At the age of 5 and in Kindergarten, so began my journey to overcome my condition.  Along with my parents, I saw a therapist, speech therapist and had compassionate and understanding teachers. 
I did not fully understand why I could not speak to others.  I just knew that the words would not come out of my mouth even when I wanted them to.   In school, I chose one boy that I could speak to by whispering.  He became my best friend.  The school and his Mom allowed him to be in my classes with me so that he could be my voice.  The next few years were not so easy at times.  On one hand, I was a teacher’s dream.  Never disruptive nor a problem.  I was also an easy target, as I wouldn’t or couldn’t tell when others were not treating me as they should. During this time that I was silent to most of the world, I was never made aware that my life would always be in silence.  Thankfully both of my parents are optimistic people who always instilled in me that our minds are very powerful and that we can achieve anything that we set out to do, if we have the right positive attitude and see ourselves as who or what we wish to be.  I was told that one day, I would find my voice and that I too would be able to communicate as freely as everyone else.  That day finally came in the winter of 5th grade.  I soon began to openly communicate in my classroom and eventually on the playground.  I continued to make great strides in new found ability.  What comes so easily to others very early in life, was just beginning to flourish with in my pre-teen years.  I not only gained confidence in myself, but soon discovered that I can change just about any situation by believing in myself and seeing my life with this goals accomplished. 
When I was 16, I became interested in a program offered the city that I live.  It was called the Huntington Beach Search and Rescue Explorer Program. It is a program that enlists youth to go through a rigorous 12-week training regime that involves not only physical agility, but written and a lengthy in depth interview process.  You are placed in front of a three to five-person panel ranging from Police, Fire and Search and Rescue officers to openly address any questions the officers want to interrogate you on.  Out of about thirty applicants to begin, they only graduate about 6.  During the process, there were times when it seemed a difficult feat to obtain. Along with my regular studies in high school, I needed to study learn and attend classes at night and weekends to fulfill the requirement of the program.   Many of my friends that had joined with me were soon dropping off. It could have been easy for me to have an excuse as to why I shouldn’t continue, but I knew it was something that I wanted to do and more importantly prove to myself that I could do.   I saw myself in the uniform that I so desired to be a part of, and my hard work, dedication and positive thinking paid off.  I was accepted into the program and served my community for over a year and half. 
These experiences in my life has taught me that no goal is out of reach if you have the drive, determination and think positive that you can and will accomplish whatever it is you set your mind to.  

The Power of Positive Thinking

Jose Suarez

​In life, everyone goes through hard times and it’s not easy to conquer and get by. Some ways we think is the best way to get through things to lock ourselves in our rooms and just think about how we got knocked down. Others will lose themselves in their world, listening to music even. Having a bad day, well it’s just bad. We lose our way of thinking happy. With our happy thoughts gone, we drive closer to despair and depression. Times like those, there’s no arguing that people will think that thinking positive would be a waste of time. But if people give it a chance and give it patience, at the end they could be filled with gratitude. I would know, although my story is a little different.
    They say that high school changes you into a different person, you’re not the same innocent kid you once were in middle school or elementary. Entering high school, you see things differently, including your way of thinking. High school also tends to be the place where you’re most likely to get your first heartbreak. After my first heartbreak I thought my world was done, typical. I did lose myself to depressing music and my room. My friends told me to think positive, that soon I’ll find someone better. Of course at the time I didn’t believe it, but then you meet new people, new people that you care deeply about. That has taught me that my friends were right, and how you just have to wait for the bright light to shine, because even if it seems like it’s burning out, it’ll always bright up again.
    It’s not always easy to think up, like I mentioned before. We all have our bad days yes. Thinking positive won’t just help you out, but it could someone else that you weren’t expecting. You may not see it, but just by thinking positive, you start to give off an aura of happiness and brightness. The happiness spreads to other people and with just that, it can turn a frown upside-down. I remember on a car ride after getting pizza from Little Caesar's, my friend had told me that at one point he was feeling down. After a few minutes into the conversation, he mentioned that because of me, because of my excitement and upbeat way of being, I’m one of the people that keeps on reminding him why he is still part of our church group. In our group there, some of us stop going for different reason ranging from they have a job now, to them just not feeling the group no more. After being told that, I did feel a strong feeling of gratitude. All day I was reminding myself how with positive thoughts, I help a friend stay close to us. So you can also say the with positive thinking, you get a sense of gratitude at the end.
    These two incidents have helped me get a more positive look on life, but there are actually two people that have helped me see things better. When I mentioned before that I found people I care about deeply, I was referring to my friends Azsalia and Verania, who I like to call my sisters, because that’s who they are to me now. One of the basic stories of them helping me think better is where they convinced me to join the church group choir, which I’m referring to the same church group I mentioned before. All my life, I’ve always told myself I can’t sing, even if it was life or death. The only times I would sing would be when my jam was on or just messing around. Still, I would think I sounded horribly terrible. Then these two girls came into my life and just like me, they had this aura of positive thinking and happiness which got a hold of me. They told me to stop thinking like that, and told me they knew and believed I had a great voice, so they convinced me to join the choir. Once again, I felt a great sense of gratitude.
    Looking back, I learned that in my days of being a negative thinker, I was sad most of the time, telling myself I can’t, I stink, I’m not a good friend and I fail in many things. I was getting nowhere with that attitude. After meeting my sisters, I noticed that most of the time I’m with them, when I’m with my group and in other places, my smile grew. Because my smile grew, I saw more smiles around me I haven’t. Once in awhile, I would get a thought saying it’s too much and I can’t maybe. After having such a thought, I seem to find one that says that there is hope and I can. That’s how it’s been for some time now, instead of just letting myself be a pessimist.
There is a saying that goes, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”  I think that’s a saying a lot of us can live up to. Thinking positive also means having hope and faith. Having faith in the things you do or will do and in your dreams. It’s about believing that the bad will go away soon, if you believe it will and think in a positive way. I also positively think that by spreading our positive thoughts, we can sure make someone’s day, and it’s important to do so because you never know when they need that one positive thought saying yes they can and we believe in them.

Dreams

Sonja Cipos
​ASU

I have always been a dreamer. Since I was very young, I wanted to be a fashion designer, an interior designer, I wanted to travel the world, be an artist, and provide everything for my family, but also visit outer space. I wanted to be an actress, and a singer, even though I couldn’t sing. I had all these aspirations, but there was one thing that stood in the way: my anxiety disorder. I could flourish in the background, but never be the one on stage. After my house burned down when I was in high school, I started separating myself from everyone around me and my anxiety started taking over my life. I will explain to you what living with an anxiety disorder feels like. You have a simple task to overcome, or even a friend asks you to go out. You think about it constantly. All of the bad things that could happen. Your body starts shaking, your heart rate speeds up, you sweat, and your mind races. I got to the point where I couldn’t even practice driving for my license test, I couldn’t see friends, and I couldn’t go to class. But the thing that differentiates me from many other suffering from mental illness was that I wanted to help myself and I knew that I could get better if I stayed positive. I had these dreams that I had carried with me since I was very little and I continued to want to pursue them. I had so many days that I couldn’t imagine ever being “okay” again, but I wouldn’t let my worries destroy my dreams. After a year of being displaced, my family purchased a beautiful, little colonial-looking home from the 1920s. And the room I was given was magnificent. With this new space of mine and my one dream of going into interior design, I decorated and painted my room with my friends, and decided to submit a video of my room and an essay to Pottery Barn Teen, where I was selected to be their new student stylist. I worked with them during my senior year and was given a sense of purpose. I was given a desk that had been my great-great-grandmother’s and I decided that I was much more than my anxiety. I sat at that desk each and every day of my senior year of high school and searched and applied for colleges all around the United States. I had been too afraid to go into the room of people to take the SAT/ACT, so I applied without that important piece. Of course, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be going to college because of how my anxiety had affected me, but I refused to let it overcome my positive thinking. I received letters from all the colleges I had applied to, and I was accepted into each one. I ended up deciding on Columbia College Chicago, my dream school. I waited a year and a half to go to it, but I did it in the end. And I stayed there for an amount that was perfect for me. I stayed a semester, made so many incredible, uplifting people, and found my creative integrity once again. I made sculptures and paintings, took writing courses, and spoke fluidly in front of my peers, all while being in one of the most wonderful cities in the United States. Because I want to travel, I decided to transfer to a university that offered fully online classes, and I found Arizona State University. Within this school, I am able to get an education and do it anywhere in the world. I must say, the power of positive thinking is remarkable. I am pursuing my passions, slowly, but I am doing it because I didn’t let my anxiety stop me and I chose to power through my fears. 

The Power of Gratitude and Positive Thinking

Corinne Creighton

As an incoming freshman, the principals of positive thinking, gratitude, and focusing on things I can control have all had a positive impact on my life.   As an incoming freshman going to Arizona State University, I experienced a crisis of identity in figuring out what I want to do for the rest of my life.  I went into a downward spiral of anxiety and depression overthinking every possible outcome of my life.  I was in the crisis that I believed being a psychology major was a waste of time, or the fact that if I switched to a business major that I would not be able to pass the classes, and the fact that I did not have the grades to get into competitive nursing programs.  Every night and day my thoughts were negatively flooded with the fact that I would never amount to anything due to my major of psychology.  I failed to see that I had already accomplished so much in my first semester of freshmen year.  Constantly running through my head were the thoughts that I would be living with my parents forever, that I would never land a fulfilling job, and that after college I would just live a depressing life.  I cried to my parents every day on the phone explaining that I was so confused on what I should do.  I went to counseling sessions just to speak my mind even though I knew that the counselors did not hold the answers to my life.  I called and questioned each one of my family members on their life and career choices.  I also spent countless hours researching job outlooks in the future and salaries.  I also spent a lot of time researching what you can do with all different types of majors.  This only had a negative effect on my mind and body.  Having these constant negative thoughts made it hard for me to focus on the tasks at hand like my schoolwork.  I also lost all motivation to get up in the morning, I also had no motivation to start my day.  I suffered from panic attacks in my dorm room and in class.
Since the start of the semester I have grown and improved so much.  I still have obsessive and negative thoughts about my life and my future but I have learned to take it a day at a time.  I am learning to find the positive in every situation.  I was influenced so much in finding my “passion” and turning it into work or following my unfeasible dreams because that was what the media was telling me to do.  I was tricked by the media by believing that if I don’t find work that I am passionate about that I will have a depressing life.  In reality for most people at least, work is work and that is ok.  Day by day I am learning to think as work as only a part of my life.  I can have a life outside of my career.  It is amazing how much better you can feel when you shift into a positive attitude.  Now, I have taken it upon myself to exercise regularly which has done wonders on my self-confidence.  Whenever I feel worried about my future I think about all the stuff I have already accomplished.  I moved across the country from my parents, made great friends in college, volunteer at our college radio, tried out for my colleges equestrian team and earned a varsity spot!  I also was lucky enough to even get picked to show in California and earn the team a third-place ribbon in my division.  To top it all off I earned amazing grades this semester even with all of the anxiety happening!
Another thing that I do when I start feeling down or anxious, is that I take the time to think about all the things I am grateful for in my life.  I write down that I am grateful to have two parents that love in support me, that I have a loving and supporting group of family and friends around me, that I have access to food, warmth, and a comfy bed when I need to sleep, and I also think about how grateful I am to be blessed with good health.  I realize that half of the negative stuff I imagine in my head are just made up scenarios that are most likely not going to happen.  I also came to the realization that it is silly to plan your life so far in advanced because life can change on a dime.  Also, that it is a fact that no one can predict where and what they will be doing years in the future.
The first semester of college proved to be a great challenge for me that I overcame!  With the help of positive thinking, I changed my mindset which has benefitted me in so many ways.  I became the happy person I was before entering college.  Practicing gratitude helped me slow down my obsessive thinking about made up life scenarios in my head.  I now can faithfully say that I will graduate college with my bachelor’s degree and live a successful life even though I do not have every detail planned out.

Keep Runnin'

Javon Freeman










The air surrounding me was tense and electrifying at the same time. BOOM! The gun had gone off and the race had started. My heart was pacing with every step I had taken. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale were the only thoughts that my mind had allowed to go through my head. I had gone deaf. The crowd had lost their voice, the air seemed to stand still, but the only recognizable sound I had noticed was my own heart thumping as I flexed every and any muscle. As I emerged into the last stages of the race my hearing had returned and the roaring crowd had regained their voice. My only competition was myself as I hit the last stretch with 100 meters to go and a quite noticeable lead. I remember hearing chants from teammates yelling, “Let’s go Peoria!” to my own mom yelling “Run Fat boy run!”, right as my body had given out I passed the baton to my cousin and the race had continued. Somehow I had managed to muster the little amount of energy I had to lift my face off of the dirty track and watch the remainder of the race.
I have never experienced so many emotions in my life in only 3 minutes and 25 seconds. My cousin had taken the lead down from first to a very close second. He was thrown into this event just 2 weeks prior so I had already expected this in my mind. Getting the baton next was one of my closest friends. I had been running with this guy for 4 years so expectations were through the roof. He had taken the baton with the aggressiveness I had grown accustomed to the past 4 years and he ran with his heart on his sleeve. No words could even be said at this moment in time because my run had taken such a toll on my body so, I felt that opening my mouth would just add insult to injury. Behind my dead eyes was the most excited human being that had ever walked the Earth. I was proud of my team already, but anxious at the same time because the most crucial part of the race was approaching quickly as the last exchange had initiated the end of the race. 
As the race was finishing up with the last runner, my heart had been jumping out of my chest and onto the track. “COME ON, RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN “were the only words that my fatigued mind could come up with and my weakened body could communicate. “RUN PEORIA HIGH RUN” was every other person in the stands so I didn’t feel that different. My team crossed the finish line in third place. This accomplishment was bigger than life itself, the moment I had been waiting for since my freshman year of high school. My team was able to do what my school hadn’t been able to do in 4 years. We had medaled in the 4 by 400-meter relay at the Arizona State Track and Field State Championship.
On the podium we  felt like superstars with cameras in our faces and fans talking about our amazing race. What elevated this moment into a category of its own was the fact that 85% of my family had seen this race. Coming from Palo Alto, Los Angeles, San Diego, and even Chicago, this concentration of my family had never been together in my entire eighteen years of living. They had seen my cousin, basically my brother, and myself run our hearts out in this race and it had paid off. This moment in my life quickly claimed the number one spot of my all-time top memories playlist.  
But, how ironic is it that the highest point of my life came from me being at my lowest.
            I remember the night as clear as day. I had come home from a track practice, and had the best nap of my life. When I woke it was about 11’oclock at night and I hear my mom’s phone ring. Of course just another phone call. A few minutes had gone by until my mom had broken down in tears. What the hell is going on? I couldn’t understand any word she was saying. “Ma what’s wrong?! What’s wrong?!”
“Your Uncle passed away tonight”
            My uncle, Michael Freeman, had been one of the funniest people I had known. No one would ever be safe from his jokes. Not their friends, cousins, mom, dad, grandma, or even their first girlfriend. No one was safe.  He was one of the only male figures in my life, and behind all of his jokes, months leading up to his death he always talked about how proud he was of me and everything I had done almost every day I had seen him.
            We arrive at my aunts and uncles house with 2 police cars sitting out front. We enter through the front door and all I hear is my aunt crying so ferociously. One of the officers then explained what had happened. “Michael had been killed tonight when a vehicle exiting a private drive pulled directly into the path of his motorcycle”. That was it? My uncle’s years of life ended just because of some idiot couldn’t wait until an intersection was clear? Even within a room full of sadness with my aunt’s family there trying to mainly console her I couldn’t bring myself to cry. I had been preoccupied with my mom telling every family member we had that my uncle had passed, because who else was going to do it. I had seen her go through the same exact method over the course of 15+ phone calls with the same ending of “the funeral hasn’t been planned yet, but I’ll keep you updated”. I had to be strong, my older brother had already broken down, and everyone had been looking for my mom to console them, so I had to console her.
           
The schedule for next week was as follows: school all week, family flying out on Wednesday, viewing of the body on Friday, funeral on Saturday, and the State Championship Finals for track and field on Sunday. Fun week.
I was so emotionless that week of school. I couldn’t show my emotions to all my friends because that’s just not me, but I wanted too. Now that think back, I realized so many people tried to reach out to me because of what had happened, but my stubborn self couldn’t swallow my own pride and let them reach out to me. Graduations coming up, State Championship is this week, and I am about to graduate high school and finally go to a university! Happiest time of my life right. Everyday something reminded me of him and I still haven’t shed a tear for him.
Friday had come and it was time to view his body.
My tear ducts had felt as if they had exploded.
It had finally happened; everything had hit me at once. My own Uncle is gone, and there was no I way I would be able to hear his contagious laugh or see his smile in this lifetime. Why would this have happened at time like this to my family, I needed you at a time like this My selfish thoughts flushed through my head again. How am I going to run at the state finals? My teams counting on me I can’t run in this state of mind. I can’t run tomorrow, I can’t I ca…
My grandpa, mom, brother, and nana all interrupted my thought without even noticing. “Do it for him on Sunday Jay, you know he’s already excited to see you run”, my mom said with all of their hands simultaneously touching me like he had it planned.
Saturday had come around and the funeral was a celebration of life for Michael Freeman. No more tears, no more sadness, no more sobbing uncontrollably. Why were we crying in the first place? He would’ve so mad at us wasting all those tears and probably would’ve turned it into some sort of joke. Sunday morning had come and I was ready.
My coach had taken my friend and I to the finals in a van, in that 40-minute drive full of singing terrible songs, jokes, the race coming up and just life, both of them made me realize that this is what life is about. Love, not sadness.
MY ENTIRE FAMILY IS OUT HERE FOR MY UNCLES FUNERAL AND NOW THEY’RE ABOUT TO WATCH ME RUN MY LAST RACE EVER, THANKS FOR BRINGING THE CROWD WITH YOU UNCLE.
The air surrounding his was tense and electrifying at the same time. BOOM! The gun had gone off and the race had started. My heart was pacing with every step he had taken.” Run Fatboy! Come on Fatboy! You got this Jay!” my Mom had been screaming for herself and my Uncle. I knew my entire family was watching this race. I was on the podium with my team and my family had to take 1,000 pictures alone in that one sitting. I knew they were all there, saw all their faces and heard every one of their voices in the crowd of hundreds.
What if the same events occurred and my family couldn’t watch my last race? I don’t think I would have been able to run. They were the only ones who kept me afloat when I was nearly drowning. I wouldn’t have been able to keep going if it wasn’t for them being there at that pivotal moment in my life.
How could the lowest point in your life quickly bounce back to becoming your highest point so easily?
Mindset. 
These past few months have been so hard on me and sometimes I think I’ll never be able to go back to being me. Things that pull you down to your all-time low might just be the point the catapults you to your all-time high. No matter what happens you always have to have one thought in mind.
Keep on runnin’

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Diversity

Martin Barta
​ASU

Coming from such a diverse location like the Bay Area, I was constantly around all different types of people. California, specifically, the Bay Area, is prideful in being so diverse and interfusing cultures and creating new waves of change and diversity. In San Francisco alone, you will find areas such as The Castro, the largest gay community in California, or The Mission, which gives you a taste of every Latin country you could think of from Central American down to South America and even Spain! However, one common theme that occurs many times in California is most Hispanics are generalized as being Mexican or of Mexican decent. Media outlets and even other Latinos, speak mostly towards the Mexican community or make assumptions that someone is Mexican. One would believe this would the norm, considering a large population of Mexican decent, however, for other nationalities of Latinos, they tend to be forgotten many times.
Being of Nicaraguan decent, we are among that group that tends to be forgotten, but no matter what, I am proud of being Nicaraguan and will always show off my pride. At a young age, I was taken to Nicaragua and was immediately engulfed into my Nicaraguan heritage and what it means to be Nicaragüense, the proper Spanish term Nicaraguans identify as. Everything in my family has some Nicaraguan influence from our food, our diction, and even the way we dress or behave. Personally, I embrace being Nicaraguan at every chance and carry my heritage in the way I live my life. Even in my dorm, I have the Nicaraguan flag on my wall, a common theme for Nicaraguans. To have my flag hang in my dorm room and to understand what that means is an extraordinary feeling and incredible journey to say, “I’m here, I made it to college”.
Most children and adults of Nicaraguan decent, including my parents, siblings, and other family members, have had troubles academically. My dad had told me stories of how he was a great student during his childhood, but lost his way sometime in high school, forcing his father’s hand. His father shipped him away to Nicaragua and when he returned to the United States, he still did not finish high school until later into his adult life. No one in my family had any higher-level education, and although my sisters and brother made attempts, they succumbed to the pressures of work and other factors. It became a personal goal to become the first family member and of the few Nicaraguans that make it to college. Especially for my intended major, it is something of a rarity to make it to my desired career job.
Nicaraguan’s have never been particularly well known for sports or many sports figure, although there are few. Most Nicaraguans turn to playing sports to keep away from trouble and for fun and to past time. Growing up, I was active in playing sports such as football, basketball, and baseball, and enjoyed watching them. However, one sport I always loved watching and our family would hold gatherings for is boxing. Watching the fights, odds would always be against the Nicaraguan fighter and the broadcasters spoke highly about whomever the opponent was, despite the latter’s reputation. I always asked my dad, why aren’t there many Nicaraguans in sports or the sports industry, and he simply told me, “we aren’t good in anything,” and that opinion to me was always based off others criticism and the lack of recognition we garnered. I refused to believe that and in a way, has led me to here today.
Writing and broadcasting to me is a way of art and communicating to readers and viewers a new thinking within a sports topic or issue. In high school, I was a writer for the school newspaper and displayed my joy and passion for writing and voicing a story or topic that could allow the readers to ask questions and shed a new light. Writing came easy to me as I wrote with rhythm and success, due to my ability to be social and discover what others opinions are on matters and seeking new light others have not thought of or observed.
It’s difficult to foresee exactly how the future may play out with so many factors and changing in society, however I hope to change the minds of those who may simply assume I’m just another Mexican or Latino reporter. Beginning with internships and opportunities I gain, I plan on showing them my intentions to put Nicaragua on the map and to show everyone, we can make it. With the recent election of Trump, and several other factors that may be a challenge in the future, I will welcome them with open arms as I have all my life. I come from an area that as truly diverse as it could be, fails at times to capture that diversity within ethnic groups and often time generalizes, and that idea needs to change. For all Latinos, we each love our country respectively and are different in our own ways, and I hope to show the world the beauty of the Latino culture and more specifically, what it means to represent and to be a proud Nicaragüense.

I Almost Died

Corey Crossen
​ASU

Two years ago, I almost died. Despite being 6’1’, I weighed 118 pounds. My eyes were going bad, I could not sleep through the night, I had daily depressive episodes and was days away from falling into a coma when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
            At that time, I kept waiting for someone to help me. Hoping that maybe someone would come along and tell me what I was doing wrong and show me how to turn my life around. With my diagnosis, I realized that my life was my responsibility. I had been given a second chance and was not going to squander it.
            I now had the opportunity to take agency. I had to measure my blood sugar regularly, eat properly, exercise, and inject insulin. Only I could do those things, and that gave me control over my physiology. I didn’t have much appreciation for the complexity of the human body until I learned about the pancreas. I ride on an extremely complicated set of ongoing chemical reactions which is quite sensitive to external and internal stimuli. Many of its functions were broken, some due to poor fortune and others due to neglect. The medicine would fix some of them but I would have to work to fix the rest.
            I made a habit of running. It was difficult. At first I could only make it about a quarter of a mile before suffering a coughing fit. Every day, I tried to eat a little more so that I could build back up my atrophied muscle. Over weeks, I steadily moved up to a three-mile route.
            Running alone in the dark, it was easy to get lost in my thoughts. At first I was trapped revisiting old pains, but gradually I was able to focus on improving my present. In an emotional moment, it’s easy to make a promise that you can’t really keep; easy to say that tomorrow you would work hard to turn it all around. In reality, I only found success improving myself incrementally.
            Only by focusing on real, tangible actions that I could perform, goals that I could set and then accomplish, was I able to improve my body, and therefore, my life. One of the first goals that I accomplished after getting sick was this: I ran a 7-minute mile. I had never done this, even before I got sick. I believed that it would really demonstrate the extent of my recovery by pushing myself beyond my previous limits.
            It would be difficult. I made a playlist of two songs, perfect for running to. Each lasted about three minutes, thirty seconds, so when the first song ended I would know my pace based on how close I was to the halfway mark on my mile route. This worked perfectly and I finished my mile with about ten seconds left. I coughed up a lung and walked home in triumph.
            Though real life is a continuum, I believe that this moment punctuates my transition from sickness to health. After this, I was able to move beyond my depression and make lasting changes to my lifestyle, to feel and be better than I was before.
 
            I went back to school to pursue Aerospace Engineering again. With my newfound perspective on agency, I was able to recognize my limitations from before I got sick and move past them. Where before I was passive, I instead strove to act. I collaborated with others when otherwise I may have worked alone. This approach allowed me to perform better in my classes and make new friends at the same time.
            My pursuit of physical exercise led me to a group of people playing a game called Jugger. In this game, ten players fight with foam weapons to control a ball shaped like a skull, and plant it in a goal on opposite sides of a field. I can run fast and fight well, so I found that I was pretty good at Jugger. A team called the Desert Wolves asked me to join them, and last summer, they invited me to travel with them to Europe to play in a Swedish tournament.
            Later, I found a group of people that were as excited about the future as I was: I joined a team called Luna-H Map, led by Ph.D. Craig Hardgrove, to work on a shoebox-sized satellite that is scheduled enter polar orbit around the Moon in 2018.
            I saw an event at ASU where Orbital ATK spoke about their internship opportunities. There, students had the chance to work with real rocket scientists, building flight parts and designing components for practical applications. I applied immediately.
            A few months later, I got a call from Mike Groenwald and Matt Derr at Orbital. They interviewed me over the phone, and invited me to the facility to meet them in-person. I told them my story, talked about my skills, and said how excited I was to be there. A week later I got the call and after returning from Sweden, I started my internship as an engineer.
            Today, I weigh 180 pounds, I’m in the best shape of my life, my health is totally under my control, and I was recently invited to stay beyond my six-month internship at Orbital ATK due to my performance there as an engineer. I am returning full-time to ASU to continue Aerospace Engineering classes in the Spring, and though I am taking on student loans to pay for classes, I hope to seek financial help from you as well.
            My life is extremely positive and I have more opportunities now than I ever dreamed before I got sick. I owe almost all of my success to the change in perspective that my illness granted me. Only I had the power to improve my own life, and that is an incredible blessing that I am happy to share with you today. 

The Power of Positive Thinking

Jake Disarufino
ASU

The power of positive thinking is the single most important thing in my life. Positive thinking is what keeps me going every single day. When I was a kid I had a lot of knee pain but I did not like to complain so I never said anything to my parents. I lived with my knee pain until my junior year of high school when in a soccer game I tore the cartilage in my right knee. I went to my doctor and he told me that I had been walking around the last ten years with almost zero cartilage in my knees. From that year the next two years were the most painful for me both physically and mentally and it was the power of positive thinking that kept me going and kept me happy. I first want to explain why I need positive thinking so much in my life and then I will explain how it was the most important thing to me these last two years. When I was a young kid I had extreme mood swings whether it was into happiness or sadness or anger. I hated these mood swings and because I was young I did not know how to deal with my emotions. I rarely thought positively because I often was either sad or angry and rarely happy. Than at the age ten I heard the phrase “the power of positive thinking” and being a fairly thoughtful child I decided to try and figure out what the power of positive thinking was. I came to the conclusion that I could control my emotions that I did not need to be sad or angry as much. If I focused on what was good in a situation, no matter how small, than I could be happy in every situation. If I thought positively in every situation I could make it through anything. It was with this mindset that I went through the hardest situation in my life. These past two years I have had three knee surgeries gone to two different universities and lost a three year full ride scholarship because of the afore mentioned surgeries. When I had my first surgery on my right knee; my doctor told me that I would never need another one. Despite the immense pain and the long recovery time I focused on the positive, I focused on getting stronger and recovering. Every day I felt a little better and I focused on that until one day it was not my right knee that was hurting it was my left. I assumed it was nothing I wanted to be positive. As it turns out my left knee’s cartilage was even worse than my rights so much to my doctor’s surprise I had my second knee surgery. I was also told that I would never get an army ROTC scholarship which meant my chances of going to the college I thought I wanted to go to was essentially impossible. I refused to think about that however, I decided to think positively, and out of sheer force of will I worked harder than I had ever worked. To get and ROTC scholarship I needed to get a lot stronger in a very short amount of time, so I worked through the pain and got stronger. Even though I was told it was impossible I got a three year full ride scholarship because of the power of positive thinking, I got into the school I wanted to and I had it payed for. That is where the story should have ended. However my second week of school all my hopes were shattered; I got a call saying I had been medically discharged from the army. This meant that I had lost my scholarship which meant that I could not pay for the rest of school and I would have to transfer to Arizona State University. I focused on the positive again and thought at least I get the year and when I transfer home I would be with my friends. It turned out though that I hated my major and my school and on top of that the surgery that was on my left knee began to deteriorate and I learned that I would have to have a third more invasive surgery. Unfortunately I could not have the surgery until summer so I was in constant pain and miserable. I will not lie that I did not think positively during that time I fell into a deep depression for a very long time. I was sad for a very long time and I got to the point where I did not know if life was worth living anymore. But one particularly hard day I was sitting alone and I noticed how quiet it was and how peaceful everything was and I was happy. I thought positively for the first time in months and I remembered how it felt to be truly happy and I did not want to lose that feeling. So every day after that I decided to think positively and I am once again my happy self. I hope I got across how important the power of positive thinking is, it can literally change your life because nothing in life is ever as bad as it seems. If you just think positively you can do whatever you strive to do in life. 

What If?

​Jiaqi Li
ASU

If your grade was the last 10 percent of your school, do you still have the courage to apply for one of the top colleges in your country? If no one supported you or you’ve never been abroad before, are you still brave enough to go to a different country for graduate school? I do and I made it! I can’t achieve all the accomplishments without the power of positive thinking. If you have a dream then go for it, work extremely hard and never give up! My grade was the last 10 percent in my high school but I always want to apply for college in Beijing where there’s a better education environment and more cultural/international resources. I told myself it’s great chance to challenge myself. After two years’ hard work, my grade was the top 1 percent in my province and I successfully attended the Communication University of China (the top university in media/journalism area in China). I was lucky in the fact that I picked advertising as my major in my undergraduate period which provided me opportunities to have access to many wonderful ideas and different cultures. What’s more, my experience during my undergraduate education allowed me to find my real interest, improve my ability in many aspects and determine my career goal. My first semester at college was a rude shock - being away from home for the first time, being in a brand new environment with different living and study style from high school. At the end of the first semester, I ranked the last second, which made me frustrated but didn’t defeat me since I never gave up even when faced with big difficulties. My hard work got paid. In the third year, I ranked in the top ten and my GPA improved to 3.5 from 3.0. This experience taught me that I can make it as long as I tried my best, think positively and never give up. And I know that I have the ability to be the best which also allow me to pursue further study. I saw a documentary about hospital volunteering which touched me so much, so since September 2014, I worked in Beijing Children’s Hospital as a volunteer to guide patients giving them instructions and help. One of my jobs was to accompany children when they were having kidney dialysis. I also teach children with leukemia to paint and make the handwork. I have got along well with the children and really enjoyed the process since I can help to relief their pain from diseases. That’s why I changed my major to public administration/nonprofit management when I came to the U.S. for graduate school. At first none of my family or friends supported my choice. They thought I was insane to spend so much money and go to a new country where I know nobody. But I determined to fulfill my dream of perusing a higher education and experience a different culture in the U.S. I’m very lucky and grateful to join one the top 10 MPA programs in the U.S. at ASU. When I just came to Phoenix which was my first time to go abroad, everything was new and scary considering I was all on my own here. But I know what my goal is -helping people explore their interests and potential as much as I can. This summer I helped teens and adults learn how to go to college and get more education as an intern with the College Depot at the Phoenix Public Library. My current intern is at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS in Phoenix, where I support fundraising and community outreach activities to help people know more and prevent the disease. I also work at the University Help Center as a customer service specialist helping people with all different kinds of questions. What’s more I am a volunteer at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, serving as the point of contact for patient families and visitors in the Surgery Waiting areas, ensuring the comfort of family and children. I did all of these in a new environment with a new language and there’ve been many hard times for me but I successfully made it. My friends are always amazed by how many things I’ve done considering I’m still a full-time student. It takes a lot of hard work and I need to be multitasking all the time. My secrets are that knowing your goals, being positive to make the most of what you have and never give up. I hope in the future I can help more people in a nonprofit or public service area. That’s why I want to apply for Achieve today scholarship which encourages students to explore their potential and change our lives in a positive way. Life is a journey: I’m ready to experience and enjoy whatever life will give me.

Overcoming Challenges

Natalia Kupiec
ASU

My name is Natalia Kupiec, I attend McHenry County College, and I will be transferring to Arizona State University in Fall 2017. I’ve been through many challenges in my life, but there was one time where it was hard for me to function normally for a long period of time. In 2014, I injured my back, I couldn't walk. Everytime I tried walking, I would get shooting pain up and down my body. I would have to leave school early and miss classes because I was in so much pain. I kept losing hope of me being able to be active again. I had to see a physical therapist for six months. I met my physical therapist that day and I saw the love in her eyes for helping. Her goal was to get me walking again and to rekindle my happiness. Her name was Claudia. She did everything to help me when it came down to my physical therapy sessions. Not only did I get better, I also had a bond with her. She helped me walk again, and when it was my last time seeing her, she gave me a very special necklace. This necklace was no ordinary necklace-it was the pope's face on it. She said every time she had it with her, it brought her luck. This meant a lot to me. Claudia inspired me to become the person she is. I stayed positive on this whole journey, I had hope and every day I woke up with a goal to let go of negative thoughts. Ever since, I’ve become a positive person- I feel as in my heart is in peace. My goal is to finish school with a Doctorate Degree and work with people that need help. I want to be able to inspire people and help them. With a positive outlook on life, I can change lives and turn people’s days around. I don't want to be an regular Physical Therapist-where I see patients and don't know anything about them. I want to be able to connect with my patients, and get to know them as people, and see them grow and get better along the journey. I have a passion for helping others, because when I do, I feel complete.
       At Arizona, I will work hard towards my goals and show everyone I can get through any obstacle that will be in my way. I believe health and wellness are the most important aspects to our life. After I was able to walk again, I got inspired to work at a wellness center. I had no experience with any medical field jobs at the age of 18, so I saw a job opening for a Physical Therapist Technician. I applied, and kept coming into the clinic to show everyone how passionate I was about getting this job. One day, I came home from school and I got  a call that I got the job. I was a Physical Therapist Technician at the age of 18. I learned so much about health, body movements, and how therapy is beneficial. I also learned how to work with machines, and patients. On a fine afternoon when I got to work, I found out today was a big day for our long term patient Dan. Dan was 22 and he got diagnosed with a disease that one day he couldn't walk. He didn't walk for three years, and that day was the day we were going to help him walk again. When Dan arrived, I saw the fear in his eyes. He told me he doesn't think he can walk again. I told him to trust all of us, because we would get him through anything. I talked with him to calm him down, and when the doctor came into the room, it was time. When Dan stood up, I already knew he was going to succeed- slowly but surely, he started walking. His face lit up like the sun, and it was the most amazing feeling for all of us. I love seeing people get better, and know that this is just the beginning. Progress takes time, but with patience and a positive attitude, anything is possible.

Focusing On Things You Can Control

Eric Huerta
ASU

In this essay I will explain how following a simple personal development principle has helped me get where I am today. Living by the principle of “Focusing on Things You Can Control” has definitely made a positive impact in my life in many ways. There have been events in my life that have been challenging but having the right mindset has really allowed me to overcome these challenges and come out even stronger as a person.         
            An early example of this is when I graduated high school back in 2002. I went to high school in a poor area and just graduating high school was a big accomplishment. There wasn’t much talk or guidance from counselors about college because most of the kids I went to school with never went to college. After a year of doing pretty much nothing I remember being frustrated and upset because I felt my life wasn’t going anywhere. I knew I didn’t want to be like my friends, who were out partying, drinking, doing drugs almost every weekend. Even though I love and respect my parents, I also knew I didn’t want to grow up poor and living paycheck to paycheck. I decided that I was going to live my life by principle of “Focusing on Things You Can Control” and start living the life I felt I was meant to live.
The first task I focused on was getting myself into college, which was difficult because I had no one to ask for advice. Neither my parents nor my three brothers went to college. Two of my brothers actually decided to join the military right out of high school because they felt they had no other choice. Where we grew up it was get a job, have kids, or end up in jail. There wasn’t much of anything else going on around us that we could use as a positive example. I didn’t want to follow in my brother’s footstep because the military lifestyle just wasn’t for me. I focused on what I could control and since I didn’t have anyone I knew that could help me get into college, I decided to just walk to the local community college and ask for help from the employees that worked there. I can remember being so clueless and going almost every day for over a week. I did everything they asked me to do, step-by-step, to get enrolled. It was extremely frustrating because I had no idea what to do but I knew if I just focused on what I needed to do, I would take back control of my life and get where I wanted to be. I stuck with the process and was finally a college kid. Even though I have yet to finish my degree, this experience gave me the confidence I needed to take on any difficult situation.
            Another event that happened to me was when I had my first child. I was working as a banker, not making a lot of money, and my wife was not working at the time because we could not afford daycare. It was a very challenging time in our lives because I wasn’t making the money needed to live a comfortable lifestyle. We were down to our last penny every paycheck and I felt like I was just getting myself into a bigger hole with no end in sight. On top of that I was waiting to get promoted to a branch manager but there was no timetable on when it was going to happen. It could have been a month or six; it was all depended on when there was a new opening. I remember feeling very defeated and I wanted to just give up on becoming a manger and leave the company because I felt it was unfair that I had to wait when I was struggling financially. The pressure of supporting my wife and son was overwhelming at times and I didn’t know what to do. I then decided to go back to the principle of “Focusing on Things You Can Control” and that really turned things around for me. I started going to work with a better attitude, being the best employee I could be and really trying to set the right example for my team. I would behave as if I was the manager even though I wasn’t because that was something I could control. I also kept a better attitude at home and didn’t take my frustration out on my family. It wasn’t their fault we were in this situation, so why take it out on them? Applying the principle of focusing on what I can control allowed me to turn things around and start living in the moment. I wasn’t worried about when I would get my promotion because that was going to happen soon or later, I just needed keep working hard and be patient. Soon after that moment and staying focused on what I needed to do, I was soon promoted and we are in a far better place.
            In conclusion, this personal development principle is what has helped me become the person I am today. Life can be very frustrating if you are constantly focused on things not going your way. I found my peace on focusing on what I can control in my personal and professional life and it has allowed me to become the man I am today. I am currently a husband, father, branch manager, and a college graduate (expected in May). None of which would have been possible if I didn’t focus on what I can control. A lesson I plan to teach my little boys as soon as they are old enough. Life is so much more enjoyable when you know you’re in control. Thank you. 

Overcoming Struggles

Mindi Stone
​
Overcoming struggles can help someone become a better person.  Like forging metal in a fire, the difficulties in life can reinforce a person, making them stronger through introspection and perseverance.  I have gone through those fires numerous times in my life, and each time I have learned more about myself and what is important in life than I knew before.  I was born with Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, which prevented me from walking properly and eventually causing me to have several surgeries.  In order to prevail over my surgeries and syndrome, I learned how to keep my eyes on what I can control, and recognize what I cannot.
                The syndrome itself was a struggle in my life, but it only played a part in the major crisis of my life.  However it is important to mention, my syndrome caused my left leg to grow at a faster rate than the right, and eventually I had an inch difference in length between my legs.  This caused me to have my first surgery, with intention to slow the growth of my left leg so my right could catch up.  Roughly two years after my surgery, my family and I went to a place like Jumpstreet.  Somehow my leg bent ninety degrees to the right rather than forward and back like it was supposed to, and that was the beginning of another six major surgeries in my life.  From wheelchair, to crutches, to cane, my junior high and high school years were spent between physical therapy and my school desk.  After the second or third surgery, I had lost hope that I would get better and no longer believed I could walk without assistance again.  Yet despite that, I still did several more surgeries in hopes to repair my leg.  One of the most profound lessons I learned was that working at getting better and feeling I could get better are two different things.  It is not that I did not need hope, but stopping then would guarantee me not walking again.  Continuing to try gave a chance of improvement, no matter how small.
                Education took great precedence in my life, which still does, so I continued to strive for high grades despite the surgeries and long physical therapy sessions.  The pain medications made it difficult to focus, but my mother was very supportive and helped me with flash cards and other ways to study.  With her and my family’s support, I kept steadfast in my schoolwork and never made any less than a “B”.  Other than study, I always did my best at physical therapy to get the muscles back that had atrophied from my recovery time.  I even ended up having a healthy level of muscle.  When I could not exercise, I studied.  When I could not study, I drew.  Although my leg prevented me from walking right, my hands were in perfect order.  Art allowed me to focus on my creative side and have a break from the exercising and studying I had to do.  I may not have been able to change the fact I could not walk or I kept needing to have surgeries, but being able to focus on something I could proactively do helped me through that troubling time.
                At first life looked a little bleak, after my last surgery the doctors could not do any more for me.  My physical therapist suggested my family and I keep trying, so we ended up with a chiropractic nutritionist.  Through him, I learned the importance of healthy eating and a balanced lifestyle.  It sounded strange to me that my eating habits could make such a difference, but I decided to change my diet to see just in case.  I could not easily change my leg from being that way but I could change what I ate.  It turned out that my intestines were damaged from all the pain medications, and through a change in my diet, exercise, and a little chiropractic treatment, my leg finally healed the best it could.  I was able to stop the physical therapy, but I still maintained exercise along with my new eating habits.  I ended up even losing weight, and became a happier person knowing I could walk again and that I never gave up.  Now I am healthy, active, and even my studies have paid off.  I still have never made less than a “B”, and I am a proud honors student as well. 
Sometimes are most difficult times are our most significant moments in our lives.  Even in a bleak situation, always find something you can change, no matter how small.  Focus on that, and what seemed so insignificant before can be a game changer in due time.  Always find something to keep you moving forward, no matter what it may be.

Focusing on Things You Can Control

Linsey Thibault
​
My goal in life has always been to obtain my PhD. I graduated in high school in 2003. I went to a Junior College where I received my Associate of Arts in 2 short years. Right after receiving my AA I went to a University and received my Bachelors of Science. That took a little bit longer to get. A lot of different events happened and it prolonged me on obtaining this degree, but nonetheless in December of 2009 I did just that. Now fast forward quite a few years. I applied to a graduate program. After my application was completely submitted the waiting begun. I told my husband every day that I was so nervous. What if they didn’t like what I had to say in my personal statement? What if they didn’t like what my recommenders had to say about me? All these questions were going through my head.
Friday November 18, 2016 I received an email that I had been waiting on. I was accepted in to the master’s program I had applied for! I am one step closer than what I was to the PhD. The first person I wanted to tell was my husband. The only problem with that is he is 9.5 hours ahead of me in time. He is currently stationed overseas. So I called my Mom and my Mother-In-Law, my Great Aunt, and best friend. I let them all know. I waited up until 1 am and finally my husband got the message to call home. I have to say there is no greater feeling then when you have so many people backing you. My husband told me, “See I told you that you could do it. I knew you would get in. Sometimes you need to have more faith in yourself and it will all work out.” He was right.
Throughout my life I have had a difficult time staying positive because it seemed like I was getting hit left and right with bad. At 15 I was in and out of the hospital. By the time I had turned 17 I had already underwent 5 surgeries. At the age of 25 I was almost homeless because my then partner in life had left me and took everything I had. I got home from work to find that I couldn’t get in the house that we had bought together because he had a new significant other. A week later I was let go from my job because they didn’t need my anymore. At the age of 27 I was at the mercy of nature. I had built myself back up from everything that happened just 2 years prior, to have the river that was close to my house flood and destroy everything I owned.
I knew something needed to change. I knew that the place that I was in was no place for anyone. I was full of self-doubt and was a having a pity party. I said enough was enough. I started looking at life in a new way.
Instead of saying what did I do to deserve this? This is so awful. Why does all these bad things keep happening to me? I want to runway to a remote island where no one can find me. I started saying ok this happened, what do I do to build from it? How can I better myself? What can I do to make the situation that I am in better.
I could not control what my body was doing at such a young age. I could not control what former people in my life did. I could not control the economy. I could not control nature. What I could control was how I reacted to the situations that were handed to me.
I took a deep breath and started writing down everything. I wrote what happened, what lead to each event, and ways to resolve the problem at hand. At the time I finally realized that I needed to get out of the place that I was in, many of the problems had already been resolved. I was hanging onto that grief and wouldn’t let it go. This was another thing that I wrote down. I put everything I could onto that paper. At that point I knew everything would be alright. I stopped letting bad situations and bad people control my life. I looked at everything in my life with a find tooth comb. I ended some friendships that we very negative, that brought me down. I got rid of the clutter that I once thought was important. There was a whole new prospective on life.
I could not control anything that had happened and that is what I was trying to do, grad school included. I am truly blessed with having an amazing husband, an extraordinary support system, 4 cuddly dogs, and a wonderful life. It may not be the most graceful 31 years or the most fascinating 31 years, but they are my 31 years. I may not life how some of the events in my life have happened, but I wouldn’t change any of it. I have learned so much from everything that has happened and I know that with everything I have learned I am that much stronger. With any bad circumstance comes a learning situation. It’s not what has happened to you, but how you react to what has happened.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my words. I hope your day is filled with joy.

Positive Thought

Ray Didier
​Arizona State University

Henry Ford, founder of America's proudest line of automobiles, famously said “Whether you think you can, or think you can't---you are right.” In this year, I have discovered how profoundly right Ford was, how opening a locked door is sometimes as simple as reaching for it with the key that was in your hand all along. That key is your own voice: your own positive affirmation.
            For the first 25 years of my life I believed that I couldn't ( and so I didn't), do what it took to become what I knew I was meant to be. Then my grandmother, with whom I was very close, passed away and left me with a newfound resolve that life was too short to be ruled by fear. Positive thought began to take over and as much of an upward struggle as it has been, I have found that is more than powerful. It is the very fuel that sparks the ignition of our hearts and drives us forward; it is the catalyst that miraculously transforms a bleak, miserable, and thankfully short lived shadow, into a thriving, vibrant, and fulfilling existence worthy of what we here on Earth call life. Positive thought has altered my identity, changed my future, and transformed my most intimate relationships.
            The closet is a gloomy place: a place full of fear, shame, and self doubt. When I came out as a transgender man it took more courage than I thought I possessed. I had struggled my whole life with the contrast of who I was expected to be in society versus who I felt I was inside, and this manifested at times in social recluse, in feeling sick in many romantic and familial situations where I was expected to play a womanly role, in blocking out whole chunks of painful childhood memories filled with dysphoria, in bouts of depression, anxiety, panic disorders, and a whole string of eating disorders that required medical intervention for multiple infections, metabolic disorders, and a few serious intestinal dysfunctions. All of these problems were not the problem. All of these dilemmas were symptoms of the real problem: that I believed I couldn’t fully be myself and that the fulfillment of living my life as my true self was impossible. I was told I couldn’t and believed it.
            People can tell you whatever they want; it only matters what you tell yourself, because you will only believe yourself. Every other voice out there is just a suggestion, an application for you to choose to accept or reject—if you accept it and repeat it to yourself, then it has the power to imprison you. So I stopped accepting the voices around me that had pressured my since birth to present as a woman, and began listening to the voice inside that told me who I really was. I began to believe I could. I spoke to myself positively, and it changed who I was.
            “Anyone who stops learning is old,” is another saying from Ford, “and anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Positive thought is contagious. Once you tell yourself you can, there is no stopping you. Coming out was impossible, but I did it. When that happened, I looked around and thought, “What else can I do that is impossible?” The answer was readily there: school. I have always wanted to finish my bachelor’s degree, but the staggering price of higher education told me I couldn’t. It crippled me before I even  started crawling. I come from a poor family with nine children. I was lucky to find a job that would give me full time work a dollar or two above minimum wage and three sick days a year. But I have started down a road of doing the impossible, and I am not about to go back to limiting myself. I have always been obsessed with nutrition, taking free classes online wherever I could. I early learned about the changing food industry and the epidemic of the overfed and undernourished giving rise to disease across the globe. I’ve avidly watched documentaries on agriculture and dieting effects on populations, studied the chemical reactions in the human body as it broke apart nutrients and how it utilized them, and wanted more. So here I am—making the impossible possible. Making my dreams come true: going back to school to learn and then better the world around me with my knowledge. All because I believe in yes; all because I am telling myself that I can and I will.
            Positive thought is doing something else, too. It’s transforming my marriage. You might even say it has saved my marriage.  I don’t put a lot of stock in marriage as an institution, but I believe that my partner and I have something extraordinary and worth holding onto, and I nearly lost it all because I couldn’t stop the vicious cycle of negative, self-depreciating thoughts I found myself drowning in. “Don’t find fault, find a remedy,” said  Ford, and I was busy finding fault in myself. When you are only looking down, you can’t see the sun shining above. I made it my partner’s responsibility to feed my self-esteem, to give me confidence and believe in me enough to make me happy and keep me going. My partner gave me love, but it wasn’t enough to save me; I had to tell it to myself, and I wasn’t. It nearly crushed us as I became more and more self-conscious, not owning my own thoughts and neglecting to love myself or positively affirm myself. It took couple’s therapy to wake me up, to realize that nobody’s love can reach me if I am not loving myself, and that I must stand up and take ownership for my own happiness. There is no better, no other way than to affirm yourself through positive thinking.
            So it may seem silly to some, but I look in the mirror and tell myself the positive, self affirming things I need to hear. Often I put a hand over my chest and speak to my body, and feel the stress physically drain out of me. This ritual has changed my identity, my future, and my most intimate relationships. It’s transformed my life. When I read about this scholarship, I knew this opportunity was for me. This is my theme. I like to think Ford would be proud of my drive. I can’t wait to go back to school and earn my degree. I can’t wait to live the impossible life that positive thought has empowered me to finally live. 

Why I am Pursuing a Career in the Healthcare Field

McKenzie Bingham

My parents got divorced when I was young. This was a difficult time for me; but with the strong support of my mother, I was able to accept this reality and get myself focused in school. My mother, who is a Nurse, encouraged me to study hard and do well in school. I followed her advice and set my goals to take my schooling seriously and set a goal to get all As in my classes. I knew that if I wanted to go to a competitive college program that I would need to get excellent grades.  I also knew that I would have to apply for scholarships. I appreciate school and realize the importance of getting a good education in order to become an educated and productive adult member of society.
 
    My career interest since grammar school has always been to work in the medical field. My mother is a Nurse with a Pediatric specialty. I have always admired her and the work that she does. I would go to her office frequently and watch her work. I am proud of my mother and impressed by her skills.  She knew that I wanted to work in the medical field and she encouraged me to seek out my own specific interests. I have done 20 hours of shadowing at both Sumner Pediatrics and Family Care Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. I found both of these experiences to be educational and rewarding. I decided that I wanted to be a Physician Assistant. My mother supported me to come to my own decision on what career field I wanted to pursue. Although I chose a Physician Assistant field I was greatly motivated by my mother’s own career field as a Nurse.
 
    Using Positive Thinking, I set my goal to be a Physician Assistant. I made a plan to maintain a GPA of 4.0 and become a member of the National Honors Society. I knew that I would need to study hard and take courses that would put me in a good position to be accepted into a six-year Physician Assistant program.
 
  I have always enjoyed school and take my studies seriously. My favorite subjects are math and biology. I was selected as a member of the National Honors Society and also received the Wellesley College Book Award in 2014.  I graduated from Ludlow Senior High School on June 4, 2015 with a weighted grade point average of 4.24. I was ranked 7th in a class of 198. I focused on my high school goals and with my hard work I reached my high school goals. This placed me in good standing for the next step; to get accepted into a Physician Assistant program.
 
    I have worked at an elderly Assisted Living Facility where I enjoy working with and caring for the residents. It reinforced my choice to work in the medical field where I am able to care for others. I have also learned that I enjoy working with a diverse group of people. I believe that providing quality medical care for people young and old is not only a rewarding field but also good service to your patients. I believe in being professional and caring towards each person. Treating them as a human being and giving them quality care is a worthy occupation in life.  I was pleased to see many people appreciate my efforts. It brought some positive energy into their daily lives. I made a special effort to talk each time with an elderly woman with Alzheimer Disease. I would always give her a positive comment on her clothes or appearance. She surprised me by remembering my name all the time. This experience had a significant impact on me in developing my maturity and insight on human behavior. I feel that I am a mature and responsible young adult with well thought out plans for my future.   
 
    I was accepted by Springfield College in Massachusetts for their six- year Physician Assistant Program. When I graduate I will have a Masters of Health Science Physician Assistant Degree.  One of my concerns is whether my family will be able to afford the costs because of the expense. My family does not have the money for me to go to college and I will have to take out significant loans. I have one younger sister and my mother is a single mother who works very hard to give us what we need. I have learned that costs for higher education are very expensive and this is why I am applying for scholarships; reaching out in hopes to get some help for my future college needs. If I win this scholarship it will reduce the loans I will have to take to pay my bills.
 
   I am excited, very motivated, and enjoy going to college. I finished my first semester with a GPA of 3.76. I will become a licensed Physician’s Assistant. My degree is in a field that I have great interest and will also allow me to provide quality medical care to people in my community with human dignity and compassion. When I graduate as a Licensed Physician Assistant in 2021. I plan to work at Bay State Medical Center in Springfield. I want to begin there to get a broad exposure to medical issues and concerns. I will be a great Physician Assistant.
 
Community Service
 
   I believe that a human being should make a meaningful contribution to society. I was raised by my family to appreciate people of the world who are less fortunate. Each year we would contribute to different community service projects. We have bought a goat, helped build a water well, paid for a child to have surgery for a Cleft Palate and sent money to a family to India. I have sponsored a Christmas party for the past three years for children at a local women’s shelter.  I believe that being a respectful person each day is important both for my own Life Journey but also towards others.
 
AWARDS
 
1. National Honor Society
2. Make a Difference Award: I was one of a hundred students in the state that received The Make a Difference award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
3. Abigail Adams Scholarship in recognition of outstanding MCAS scores.
4. Wellesley College Book Award a counselor selected outstanding student award.
5. Center for Human Development Certificate for sponsoring Christmas parties for children in local shelter for the past 3 years.

Opportunity Thinker

Angela Truong
Arizona State University

Opportunity Thinker Hello my name is Angela Truong. I am a Vietnamese American and I am currently an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Human Resources. A dream goal or professional goal of mine is to become a Human Resources Manager for a well-known company such as Google. However, my personal goal is to become wealthy enough to take care of my parents in the near future.

Here is a little introduction; my parents are immigrants from Vietnam. They decided to move to America because they wanted my brother and I to have a better life in America since Vietnam did not have many opportunities and it was a poor country. My family of three and I started out with nothing in America. We didn’t have two dollars, nor one dollar, but zero dollars. We originally lived in Westminster, California. My parents did not speak any English therefore it was extremely difficult for them to find jobs. I remember my father would travel 3 hours away from home to do some odd job and my mother would cut pieces of fabric for a couple cents per garbage bag. The language barrier made it extremely difficult for them to find well paying jobs. They tried to learn the English language but they could not because their mentality was to always work to provide for us. There were times where we could not have dinner together. My parents would feed me and they would eat nothing. They wanted to make sure I was fine before anything else. This was not the life for my family.

We all moved to Arizona when I was about 4 years old. My parents opened up a nail salon here. My dad did not want my mom to work for anyone else because he was afraid that someone would take advantage of her since she did not speak any English at all. After they had the nail salon, their English progressively got better. I used to resent my parents for not speaking any English and not buying America snacks because they were too expensive and we could not afford them. At lunch, I was ashamed of opening up my smelly lunch box because I did not want the other children to make fun of me. I wanted a normal American life. I was ashamed of being a daughter of parents that knew nothing about the American culture.

I finally understood their struggles, sacrifices, and pain when I grew up. My shame turned into my pride. I cannot fathom the thought of my parents struggling as immigrants. Today, my parents are in their 60’s, still painting nails, catering to customers every whim, rubbing people’s hands and feet just to provide food on the table. They work 7 days a week more than 12 hours a day. They are getting older and will no longer be able to use their hands anymore. Their obstacles and struggles have been tough, but they sacrificed a lot to provide an education for my brother and I. One day, I want to be successful enough to make sure they never have to work again.

I started off my sophomore year of college being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I was always fatigued and exhausted to the point that I could not finish an assignment. This experience was rough and I wanted to take time off school. My parents always pushed me to continue with school. Just because I thought that quitting was an easier way out. My parents inspired me to continue with school. I know that everyone has struggles, but knowing about my parent’s struggles made me want to persevere even more. This experience has taught me to work hard even when life hits you hard.

There are two types of thinkers. There is the opportunity thinker and there is the obstacle thinker. An opportunity thinker sees obstacles as challenges and has a positive attitude while overcoming them. They persist longer and exert more energy. They are usually more successful. The obstacle thinkers are the ones that give up on their goals easily. Having cancer has made me became an optimist person and a strong motivator. I did not let a struggle define my success. I learned to time managed, prioritize tasks, and I became an opportunity thinker instead of an obstacle thinker. I always encourage everyone to always try and never give up. Even when school gets stressful sometimes, always think of positives to help you overcome your obstacles. I also share my parent’s story because I want to encourage everyone even when times get tough, never give up. Always aim for your goals because it will be worth it in the end even if it feels like it takes forever.

​By telling these stories, my goal is to spread positivity and compassion in others. This is the power of positive thinking. The reason why I go to school is to take care of my parents in the future. My parents have sacrificed everything for me. I appreciate every little thing, but I appreciate my parents more than anything. I am extremely grateful and I want to show gratuity to them when I can. They gave me everything and spent nothing on themselves. They always made sure I was healthy and needed everything before they worried about themselves. I want to make my parents journey to America worth it. I want to make them proud. 

Worrying Less, Living More

Beau Salazar
Arizona State University
​
​            Every person has been told by someone else they need to get a good job if you want to live a successful live.  Young adults today know that a college education will get them towards a good job.  If they want a great job, then post-graduate schools are a must, and the requirements getting into those schools are a demanding workload and a stressful few years.  Everybody gets caught up with how much effort the classes require a student to put into it, in order for them to pass the classes with good grades.  Also, that student might have a job and spends on average twenty five hours working in order to survive while going to school.  Don’t forget if they couldn’t afford to meet the tuition from scholarships or savings and have to take loans out, and know the burden of all the debt that adds up over the years.  Most of these people are in their early twenties and have a lot on their plate. 
            The stress piles up on a student with all the demands life puts on them, and they panic and become overwhelm with everything going on in their life.  Their heads are constantly spinning twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  They don’t put 100% of their effort in school because they are constantly thinking what else needs to be done, or don’t have enough time as they would like to put towards their studies and cause stress to build up.  If there isn’t enough time, they can’t cover all the material and can’t perform to their potential in the class.  This is a repeated cycle that most students get caught up in and half of them struggle to get out of this cycle.   They bring all this negative energy through the law of attraction.
            The law of attraction reflects that every positive or negative event that has ever happened to a person was attracted to them.  They brought the positive energy that resulted in a positive result or vice versa have a negative result brought to them by negative energy.  The law of attraction differs from the saying “hardwork pays off” because people can work as hard as they want but still bring negativity with them and they don’t see the results they want to and will bring more negativity around.  Most people will try to not associate with those people because they feel like their negative energy will rub off on them.  Now a person being positive all the time will bring a great sense of energy for everyone they are around.  Students who have a positive law of attraction bring out confidence in not only themselves but other people as well.  They believe they will accomplish their goals and don’t let their minds second-guess themselves.  They are the people who are the most driven and accomplish their goals, especially working hard, because they envision on their success and always stay positive. 
            Students stress on the slightest things when stuff goes wrong and get lost, instead of taking a step back and recovering their mind off of their task, and being able to go at it again with a positive mind at it.  They are many different coaching methods for students to learn from, so they are able to not make the same mistakes again bringing that negative energy with them.  Using the coaching methods for the law of attraction will have them ask what they want, make them believe that they can do or have it, and receive what they rightfully deserve in return.  The biggest factor for young adults is having a stable clear mind, and using the law of attraction will guide them to what they deserve to have.

Black Is Not Just a Colour But a Culture

Hassan Arekemsse

Black is not just a colour but a culture.Born in Africa specifically Nigeria on the midday of February 7 , 1991. I grew up in a big family knowing education as the biggest legacy and path towards everlasting poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
     My parent worked so hard and succeeded in paying my tuition through primary school, high school and medical school. I graduated as a physician in March 2013. Woah !!! everyone was proud of me but I knew this was just the beginning of my strive to being a leader.
      I worked as a physician for 3 years in a struggling federal government hospital with limited equipment and manpower . However, i decided to further my education. I was successful admitted into the prestigious University of Evansville for a masters in health Service Administration August 15 ,2016.
      It's called a struggle to finish because after my masters I will go in for residency in internal medicine and then my PhD in health service administration.Through all this struggle towards emancipation and self sufficiency, it's always being my parent sponsoring me.
      At this point, I need help and support from individuals who can foresee where am going and how big the picture his. I wish one day, I will be the position to give scholarships to people who are eager to succeed but aren't privileged to.
       Conclusively, I believe givers never lack and Africa will one day be great again.

The power of positive thinking

Alexus Williams
Grinnell College

Recently my career path shifted from entertainer to historian. The credit for this change goes to the amount of knowledge I acquired this past year. Last spring, I took an African American literature and an African American History course. In addition, this summer I completed a 30 page research paper under a historian and Urban and Regional Planning professor at the University of Iowa on the experience of African Americans in Iowa. I won’t say that police brutality in the news and the Black Lives Matter Movement did not have any influence on my decision. But the number one reason for my change in career plans is due to learning about the history of African people in America.

I did not read a lot growing up. Most low-income Black children in Chicago don’t because it is rarely emphasized in the home and there are only a handful of Chicago Public Schools producing students that go off to college. As a result, reading smacked me dead in the face as I stumbled over words reading aloud in class after I was accepted to transfer to a magnet high school and then again even harder when I decided to attend a prestigious liberal arts institution in Iowa.

History and I met in Iowa in the spring of 2015. Prior to our meeting, dance and creative writing were in the spotlight of my life. Creating short fiction stories and showcasing my ability to choreograph and freestyle Hip Hop dance, which had been cultivated in my neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, were priority. But History and I fell in love within the first assignment. He told me stories similar to the ones I liked to write except they were real. He took me places like Mississippi and New Orleans and taught me lessons and skills that were familiar. Although I struggled with reading, I read continuously to become more efficient and because the new information made me question everything around me.

I am drawn to History because it puts a lot into perspective. I learned why many of my aunts and uncles spent a portion of their lives in prison at some point, and why my uncle who was rumored to be a crackhead stole money out of my pocket while I was asleep once. We lived in an oppressive system which forced us into public housing projects and prison was just another way to strip African people of their right to vote, own property, and make a decent living. Since we had virtually no money, my family members began selling drugs to make a living and some of them used their own supply. While it was devastating to face the plight of African Americans every day when I came home from college, I was forced to because I lived in it. I watched the drugs dealers and crackheads out of our car window wondering how we had gotten to this point and how to reverse it.

Learning this history made me very skeptical of the White people I interacted with at school because History taught me that African people in America were suppressed while others had access to fresh foods, better jobs, better schools and therefore a longer, more prosperous life. I channeled this new reality by studying the contributions African Americans made to society including food, appliances and music. I began to appreciate Black culture a bit more because it has evolved from a lack of resources and a collective struggle. I decided to invest my time into books about African American history hoping to improve current communities in the process. I plan to pursue graduate school to focus on African American History because becoming an expert on the history of African people in America is important if I would like to change our communities. Marginalized communities are immensely affected by unequal access to health and dental care and the quality of public schooling in the U.S. I recognize that I have the opportunity to change these aspects that I am not happy with if I want to take on that responsibility.

Though my dreams of improving African American communities are enormous, the youth I encounter in these communities are the reason I have shifted my focus to maintaining my undergraduate GPA in order to be admitted into graduate school to give back to them. My goals to implement youth summer programs with mentoring, tutoring and guidance on topics of nutrition, dental hygiene, finance, etc. will be attainable with patience and positivity. Regardless of minor setbacks in school, I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to live a fulfilling and prosperous life. The past year has shown me that there are people that need me more than I need to dance.

The power of positive thinking

Letitia Tajuba

When I became a teacher a few years ago.  I would say to myself that no matter the circumstances that the year would wonderful.  In 2010, I was not in that situation.  I was working with a not so great company and I was struggling to make my ends meet.  I remember telling myself while I would walk into work every day, that this is not my last place and that by the end of the month I would be at a better position by the end of the month.  My boss would curse at me, and tell me how horrible I was.  I was depressed and nothing was going the way that I had plan. 

So, I made a plan.  Every day when I walk in to work from my birthday and on.  I would be nice to everyone.  I am going smile to my boss who is not so nice, and I was going to put my best foot forward.  All while I was constantly praying, and saying to myself that no matter what that by the end of February I would have a new career.  Low and behold there was a crazy winter storm heading towards where I was living at the time.  I was thrilled and scared at the same time because that meant that I could possibly get some time off.  My roommate and I planned a way for us to make it safely to her parents’ house in a nearby town.  However, my boss was adamant that I was going to be safe walking in this storm that knocked out power in the US Government for nearly 9 days.  I am from the land where snow falls, and I have seen it all.  I knew that this storm was going to be dangerous because people who lived in this area were not used to these snowstorms.   I was upset and nervous because within two hours of the snow falling.  There was nearly 4 inches on the ground. I got off work, and headed straight to get to my roommates’ parents’ house. I get there, and sit in a corner to just decompress and watch the snow fall.  During that time, I was interrupted by phone calls from my boss, and emails as well.  He kept asking for a video that was in his VCR, and I kept my phone shut off.

Throughout those days cooped up in a house with about 12 people.  All I did was think about what I can do and where can I apply.  So for about 4 days.  I applied to different positions throughout the DC area and beyond.  What I did was contact people who I knew. With the thought that no matter what by the end of February I would have new career.  After taking a break and enjoying the rest of days off.  I went back to my toxic office situation.  On the very first day, my colleague and I were yelled at for not going in during the storm.  Where I was staying there was nearly 14 inches of snow and no public transportation was running.  I could not afford a Taxi, and my roommate’s mother was adamant that she was not going to let me go to work.  Needless to say, he wanted one of us to shovel his sidewalks. Right after that meeting, I got a phone call it was from a school that I used to volunteer for.  The principal was so excited  to hear my voice, and first thing she said was “How soon can you start?” I told her that I could come in the next day.  That day, I came in did my sample lesson, and met some of my now closest friends.  At the end of the day, I was hired.  I became a teacher. 

I was skeptical about becoming a teacher.  I was impatient, moody, pushy, ambitious, and so many more things that I felt made me not qualify to be a teacher.  My family scratch their heads because they were nervous about me becoming a teacher.  It was not until I learned how I was doing until my 7th graders begin to protect me from the shenanigans that other students were doing.  I began to gain confidence in my teaching.  I began to fall in love with every aspect of teaching.   Until, I started to noticed what my purspose as an educator was to my students.  I noticed that they were failing out of college, and that many of them lack the skillsets that most college students needed.  I began to become miserable at my job because I was beating myself up, because I did not know the answers to helping my students succeed.  So I decided to go to Grad School so that I can able to work with as many students in their collegiate careers so that they can graduate from college.  This scholarship will help with many expenses so that I can continue with my classes and complete my Masters.

Hard work will take you far

Bianca Anuforo

Most people look forward to that “college experience.” Being able to not only make new friends, but to make connections and embark on the journey to the rest of their lives. Some people are fortunate enough to have someone invest in their education, while others are privileged enough to afford an education. Many students like myself have to work our way through college, literally and figuratively. Statistics shows that students, who work, often have lower GPAs than their non-working counterparts. Sometimes it’s frustrating to know that you have to work overtime for an education, while your peers get to enjoy and embark in the true college experience.

            I realized very early that I needed to work hard to pay for school. Although I was a high achieving high school student, it didn’t really show when it came to merit scholarships for a lot of schools. I didn’t qualify for work-study, so I had to settle for the less appeasing jobs, but hey at least it made me some money. It sucked having to sacrifice, freshman events and having the chance to meet new people, all in the name of working for tuition money, but hey, its life.

I was always a hard working girl, so after awhile, working everyday didn’t bother me, until I was diagnosed with a chronic illness. Determined as I ever was, taking a leave or quitting was out of the question. Due to a great support system and motivation from family, I was able to continue my studies. Even though I had to work less, it ignited me, knowing that I had the resilience to keep going all in the name of education.

In 3 years, I was able to accomplish what some adults still don’t have and that’s financial literacy and responsibility. Having to buy my own groceries, books, pay my bills and tuition has taught me the art of budgeting, smart spending and management of available resources. I know to not spend what I don’t have, leaving me with no outstanding credit card bills, buying groceries in bulk, so I don’t have to budget for food every paycheck and to pry myself away from the technology addiction. Being able to save money on my phone, by reducing my monthly data and forcing myself to use my phone only under Wi-Fi, or unless it was a dire need. Not being afraid to clip coupons and taking advantage of the free stuff that universities love to hand out to students during the on campus festivities. Over time, I’ve never appreciated money as much as I do now.

            Over the past 3 years, no matter how hard, emotionally, financially or even spiritually it got, I always kept my eye on the prize, the prize being my degree. My primary goal for going to school and obtaining my exercise physiology degree has always been to become a doctor. Not only do I want to be a doctor, I want to be that doctor that gets their patients to adopt healthy lifestyles, but to improve healthcare for minorities. Minorities have been prone to many chronic illnesses, majority of which are highly preventable through diet and exercise. As a student and social justice advocate I know how socioeconomic status affects health and access to healthcare. Sometimes if my patients aren’t able to, I hope to use my privilege of having a big salary to help get them started on picking healthier groceries. Furthermore, I will have a plan to create local cost effective and time friendly diet and exercise regimens that not only reduce the occurrence of chronic illness, but also prevents them. I want to be that doctor that my patients can relate to. The one that knows what it means to count coins for survival, the one that had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get the basic needs. I want to be a friend to them and in return give them what I struggled to obtain while I was in college. That alone is enough to always leave me thinking positively.

I’ve come to appreciate the many people that use their finances to invest in the education of students like myself. Even though I may not be a recipient of those funds, just knowing that somewhere in the world, there are many people that still think of the working students and struggling students is humbling to me. I still struggle to accept that I’m still going to be in debt as a result of chasing my dreams, but its satisfying to know that when its all said and done, the cliché graduation phrase, “I did it” will mean so much more. If there are any lessons that I will hold dear to me that college has taught me, it is to remain positive, hard work may not get you exactly what you wanted, but it will take you far.

The powers of thinking positively

Emma Roach

Growing up in the Caribbean island state of Trinidad and Tobago I was immersed in cultural traditions. Those dear to my heart include: dancing in Carnival day parades; lighting deyas for Divali, the festival of lights and; participating in re-enactments on our Emancipation Day holiday. It sparked my awareness in culture and people and as I grew older, I developed a keen interest in tourism. 

I was accepted to study Tourism Management at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. Upon my acceptance, I became aware that I would receive no financial support from my family. Heartbroken, I fell into a state of depression as I imagined what life would be like without a college education. As upset as I was about my parents not contributing financially to my education, it was not their fault. They themselves never went to college and although middle class, their finances did not allow for their child’s tertiary education. Set to embark on, what I imagined a mundane life, I began to retreat into my bedroom daily. I was mad at the world because I thought I would not achieve my dream. 

My faltering attitude led to my aunt Joycelyn inviting me to her home for a weekend. I was not keen on the invitation initially. Aunt Joycelyn garnered a reputation for inviting her nieces over to assist with housework. I was unaware of her intention behind this particular visit. Rather than the usual assigning of chores, we spoke for hours. It was unusual to say the least. Though I knew my aunt loved me and we would sometimes speak on general issues in our lives like community gossip or an upcoming event; we never once had a conversation at length revolving solely around me. She began to ask of my dreams and my aspirations. I told her about the disappointment I felt from not having the finances to begin university and how depressed I was by my friends leaving for school to pursue their own dreams. Rather than encourage me to continue working and save money towards attaining my dream in the future, she told me to “Wake up and attack the day!” I was told that I am no longer to retreat to my room and surround myself in self-pity. I needed to think positively. Positive thinking is described as ‘the process of creating thoughts that create and transform energy into reality.’ Thinking positively can therefore bring ideas and dreams into fruition. If I wanted to go to school, I needed to think positively and do what was necessary to fulfil my own dream. I could not expect anyone to hand my dream to me. After my conversation with aunt Joycelyn, I was renewed. 

So, at eighteen years of age I had to figure out how I was going to independently fund my tertiary education in a foreign country. In addition to savings from my work at that time, I researched funding opportunities from various agencies and was able to secure grants that financed the entire program. I studied in Barbados for one year before being transferred to the Bahamas for the final two years of study. I was able to complete the program with first class honors and was the first member of my family to graduate with a university degree. The experiences learned from living in other Caribbean islands enhanced my perspective of different cultures. I was able to interface with persons of various backgrounds as campus living afforded me the opportunity to reside with persons not only from the Caribbean but from all across the world. 

After the completion of my studies I worked for the Tobago House of Assembly within the Division of Tourism and Transportation. There, I was provided with the practical skills and experience which subsequently led to me being hired at our country's leading tourism developmental agency the Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC). Since the beginning of my undergraduate studies positive thinking guided me on the course to employment at TDC and from 2010 to 2014 I held two supervisory portfolios at the company. 

Working in the administration of the industry afforded me the opportunity to interact with persons from various backgrounds from all across the globe. I delighted in the fact that each day I got to experience another side the world. However, to effectively function in my chosen industry I realized that I needed to enhance my proficiency in international business and technology. Though I did not possess a wealth of resources, my aspiration was to pursue higher level education in the United States of America (USA) as I wanted the chance to learn about cultures outside of Caribbean waters and the USA is one of, if not the, most diverse country in the world. I applied and was accepted to Georgia State University to complete a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in International Business and Information Technology. As a result of positive thinking, I am currently pursuing my dream. 

As a tourism professional, I hope to utilize my experience, talents and education towards economic development via business and technology strategies for the tourism industry. My dream is in motion and it was ignited by the introduction of positive thinking in my life. I am grateful to my aunt for teaching me the powers of thinking positively and I now spread this message to others and testify to its ability to revolutionize one’s life. My advice to anyone now, whether old, young, student, employed, single or married is to first, think positive thoughts!

The law of attraction

Christian A. Bogans
Valley Forge Military College

Although I am still pretty young and thank GOD have not had an overwhelming number of bad experiences. As a young man I automatically associate the law of attraction with financial reward, but I have also learned that it's more then just attracting financial gain.  In 9th grade I began playing football I was angry with my Mother for not allowing me to play as a young time.  She allowed me to take gymnastics and ballet lesson but she refused to let me play football because she feared I would get hurt. So, when I began to play football in high school the expectation to be a high performing athlete was real.  I had never worked so hard to trying to be the best in all my days.  Although I have tried positive thinking  to help me pass test or to achieve something but I realized it never worked.  So, mother is a religious woman and she instilled an understanding of GOD and the Law of Attraction.  She taught me how the law of attraction will play a part in my future successes, my friends and financial gain.  When my mother was diagnosed with cancer I was in my fourth year of attending sleep away summer camp.  My father suddenly left after my mother was diagnosed.  After his sudden departure he began financially abusing us, slowly cutting off all sources of financial support.  My mother was fighting cancer and trying to maintain a normal life for me without any distractions.  So, during this time it was very important for her to keep me grounded because of the instability in our lives.  I really didn't know how my mother managed to send me to camp.  I knew, I had to think positive and good thoughts in order for me to receive anything good or wonderful in my life. Even when we didn't have enough food or money to buy food or gas my mother somehow made sure it never affected our daily lives.  I would often see my mother praying in the morning and at night, I did not understand who or what she was praying for while on her knees.  So, as I was sleeping she was praying and attracting good things into our lives.  Watching my mother apply the principals of the law of attraction into our lives helped me develop my own understanding and ability when I needed to apply the laws.  The laws of attraction do not work when you plan poorly.  For example, if you don't study and don't practice hard then it's likely no matter how you attract the law into your situation it will never happen.  You will be left with a feeling of disappointment and anger.  The ability to learn to use the laws of attraction to reach the minor goals set for myself has served me well.  In relation to my football playing goals and the law of attraction I was never recruited by the top colleges or offered large football scholarships.  My mother reminded apply to all the colleges I had an interest and make them aware of my interested in playing football.  She had encouraged me to apply to eight to ten colleges.  I only applied to four, I limited myself for fear of rejection.  The law of attraction does not work when you have fear or doubt present.  After I followed through with applying to the colleges that were of interest to me including expressing an interest in playing football for their teams.  I was accepted into each and every college I applied, the offer to play football.  I really couldn't believe it but I was accepted into each and every college I had applied and even the offer to play football.  I think youth have to understand the law of attraction and how to use it to attract positive and wonderful things into their lives.  Using the law of attraction takes practice but once you master or perfect the ability to attract people and things into your life, you will develop a peace.  This peace will surround you when your presented with stressful or confusing situations.  The laws of attraction will flow through every aspect of my life if I am open and receptive.  My mother used the laws of attraction to bring healing during her sickness, to help find the finances to send me to college, to help us meet our daily financial needs when my father left and to keep us from becoming homeless throughout the school year.  Then I learned to use the laws of attraction to help me get to were I am at this moment.  I am now in College playing football. I will be faced with many more challenges and situations that will require me to overcome.  And I will first call on GOD and then I will draw on what my mother taught me about the law of attraction.              

Focusing on things you can control

Javid Rzaguliyev

Life isn’t always what it seems and my life is no exception to this. Growing up in Azerbaijan, being torn from my ancestral homeland and becoming a refugee all by the age of five years isn’t the life any parent wishes for their child. It wasn’t a life I wished for my family and I was only a child but understood that this was something that was out of my control no matter how much I wanted just to be a normal kid with normal friends and normal home life. What I did realize from a very young age is that I could control what I became in my future. I could become someone, anyone I wanted to be if I applied myself and didn’t squander my gift of learning, as my father would say. Accepting that I am in control of my mindset and attitude, was the beginning of accepting myself for who I truly was.

Like all things war comes to an end or an agreement or truce in our case, and family relocated to another city in our home country and life began to return to some sort of normalcy. I could focus all my energy on my studies and this is exactly what I did. The education system in Azerbaijan caters to the best and the best only, second best is not an option. To get into the best schools in the country, the Presidents Academy of Azerbaijan, you cannot afford to come in second in your class. I always had this in the back of my mind as I studied harder, slept less, and completed isolated myself from a social life. Some may take pity on me but this is what I knew I could control, and I knew it was what I needed to be the best me I could be. Sacrifice a little fun now for an exceptional future later. 

When I got accepted into the prestigious Presidents Academy of Azerbaijan, the celebrations were wonderful. My family had come together, from all over the country side and surrounding cities to celebrate my top marks that placed me on a full scholarship to the Presidents Academy. As I looked at cousins aunts uncles family friends and neighbors that I hadn’t seen since before the war came, I couldn’t help but be drunk with joy that my decision to be the best me, focusing on what I knew I could do and setting my mind to it, had brought me the greatness that I had hungered for, the love that I loved being in the midst of, nothing could be more perfect at that exact moment for me… except to graduate from the academy with top honors and then the sky had no more limits, this I was sure of.

Needless to say I did graduate with top honors and planned to spend the summer soaking in all that I had accomplished, but as the journey of life would show me I wasn’t allowed to be content yet. My father and uncle approached me no sooner than my foot had hit the ground, as I got off the train, their smiles beaming to tell me the great news that I had been given the privilege to study abroad in America! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I had just conquered my dream and here I was about to embark on a dream I had dare not dream, for I thought it was too great a stretch at that particular time in our lives. Even more shocking and quite honeslty scary, was that I would be leaving in only a weeks time, and I would be making the trip alone, nothing but a few pieces of luggage and well wishes, to start fresh in a whole new country on a whole new continent, with a totally different culture and way of life, and I would be alone as I began studying for a new degree, an American degree in Atlanta Georgia.

This was the dream of all dreams and I couldn’t believe my luck. I buried my fear deep inside of me and again I told myself this is something you can control. You can go to America, and be the best you can be and great things will surely be the result! As I said goodbye to my family and way of life a week and two days later at the airport, I was determined to be as confident and joyful, for my parents sake, as I boarded a plane for Russia, that would take me to new York city, where I would stay with family friends for a couple of weeks to get a crash course in American culture, before being shipped off to Georgia to go at my new life alone.

After getting settled in Georgia I realized the English I spoke was not the English spoken in America, everyone and every word sounded different, no one spoke the “proper English” we are taught back home and to my horror I realized I wouldn’t do to well in school if I couldn’t even keep up with the American English that was so foreign to my ears. This new problem wasn’t going to stop me, I knew I had the ability to overcome this obstacle and that is exactly what I did. I studied English first and although it prolonged me actually getting to start my true degree, I knew this foundation would only help me build on my ultimate goal to be successful and graduate with honors from an American university.

Fast forward to 2015 and here I am, a senior at Georgia State University, double majoring in Accounting and Finance, and a GPA of 3.87. It has not been without a difficult yet rewarding journey that I have made it this far. I am so close to accomplishing not just my dream, but the dream of my family, so far away yet always managing to send encouraging words and letters and phone calls.  This scholarship will help me to complete this dream, my dream, my family dream my American dream.  To be able to study and focus on the things I can control have gotten me this far. As I finish my last year of study a scholarship to help offset the rising cost of education will do me tremendous wonders and allow me to focus on what really matters, graduating with honors.

The law of attraction gave me the wake up call I needed

Braylon Lee

I believe that the law of attraction is one of the most powerful rules of life. I use it everyday to reach my goals and ultimately my dream. In the 2013-2014 school year I fell down from a 3.0 Cumulative GPA to a 1.0 Cumulative GPA. Now in all of the years of my student career that affected me tremendously. But I had to change my thinking because whatever you think that is what you will become. The key to making my comeback to my 3.0 was time management. From where I was spending time at to what I was talking about, I had to create good but not only that I had to believe that I was creating good. One of the biggest things I had to learn is in order to receive good, you must make yourself present and available to give good. I remember everyday that I was on campus I would always talk about success and how to get it, the more I gave the more was given to me. One of the opportunities that was presented to me was to be a Senator to represent undergraduate studies and talk with students, make changes to improve their experience in college while getting a chance to teach success was a amazing opportunity because I attracted the opportunity because I created good.    

Now I believe that everyone has strengths and that when used correctly can make a effective change toward the vision that a group, organization or a person is trying to fulfill. My biggest strengths are being conversational, strategic and on purpose. Being positive is a huge strength because in order to attract good  you must understand the benefits of creating good . Understanding the good instead complaining about the bad,  you have the opportunity to not only become grateful but have information to understand why you should be grateful. Being strategic is another strength. In order to complete a assignment or a task, you must have a plan to get to that result by understanding what you are dealing with, you will have a clear focus on what decisions to make to get the job done. Finally being on purpose is my biggest strength. When you are on purpose you are connected with what you are supposed to be doing, for example if someone wants to be a good student they must do things that align with them being a good student from tutoring to networking. So in order to attract good you must do things to align yourself to receive good,  everything that you do must align with what you are supposed to do. 

Your purpose is a big part of the law of attraction. I have learned that my purpose is connected to foundation, mindset and business. What my foundation symbolizes is from Little Rock, Arkansas where I learned hard work and discipline. The hard work is from studying to tutoring in order to complete the work you must understand what you are working on and the discipline is from the fact that I am doing something that matters with not knowing what the outcome will be. In order to have a strong foundation you must think about things that will create a strong foundation from the people you spend your time with to what you are watching. Everyday I wake up on purpose because when I wake up on purpose I must to everything in my power in order to carry out and fulfill my goals in order to complete my purpose. I learned that my mindset can produce thoughts that can affect what I do, when I create good I can attract good. The more positive I think on the better my results will be. Lastly how I conduct business effects how much I am able to do. I use this rule of profit/deficit is every meeting that I go to, are the people I am surrounding myself with and are the events I am going to, are they going to create a profit or deficit. The profit is learning, growing and more while deficit is pain, suffering and more.  

The law of attraction gave me the wake up call that I need and thanks to tutoring, study strategies and the emotional support of my parents, mentors and GOD plus me using my self-discipline and work ethic I am now at a 2.78 Cumulative GPA on the verge of being back at a 3.0 Cumulative GPA. I believe receiving this scholarship will help my passion for success will grow because of the opportunity to achieve today and the future. In the words of Steve Harvey, "The Dream Will Propel To Get An education." I believe, "In order to know where you are going, you first must know where you have been." I have learned that by projecting what I want to attract along with the power of dreaming and knowing my foundation, there is no doubt that I can be anything that I want to be.

Born too soon and defeating the odds with positive thinking

Jared Matthew Brown
University of Central Florida

Being born a premature infant was a true testament for me and my parents based upon how we faced the challenge of the “unexpected.” My mom often talks about my premature birth and reflects upon the many blessings that occurred at that time. I was born on November, 4, 1996, weighing one pound and 13 ounces. Of course my mom tells the vivid story as if it just happened yesterday. She arose early on that cool Monday morning at 6:00 am preparing to head out to work; however, an extremely nagging cramp prompted her otherwise. So she made the decision to contact her doctor’s office to ask if she could see the doctor because something didn’t feel quite right. Unfortunately, the doctor’s office wasn’t open yet and the answering service attendant suggested that she head to the emergency room. And she did, but little did she know that November 4, 1996 would be the day that she gave birth to a one pound, 13 ounce baby boy.

After checking in at the ER desk, my mom explained that she had no intention of being admitted. However, following the nurse practitioner’s brief examination, it became very clear that she would be admitted and moved to the labor and delivery floor. The nurse practitioner explained to my mom that the next step would be to page the obstetrician to request that he report to the hospital. As one can imagine, my mom then became very nervous and frightened, as any mom would. Of course, her mind began racing with thoughts of “will this baby live” or “will he succumb various medical issues?” Medical history proves that normal birth weight babies remain in the womb for at least 36 weeks, and babies born less than 28 weeks usually have a dismal chance of survival. My mom told me that I was delivered exactly at 26 weeks (six and half months), which was by far, way too soon. Per my mom, my original arrival date was February 14th, 1996, so needless to say my parents were really in fear of my extremely early arrival. My mom says that it appeared to take forever for the doctor to arrive after the nurse paged him, but once he did, he responded with somewhat of a doom and gloom prognosis. The doctor informed my parents, “It would be best if you all contact your clergy, the baby is breech (not in the head down position) and we’re going to have to deliver the baby immediately.” Even today, my mom often reflects upon the doctor’s initial prognosis and she feels absolutely certain that her positive thinking and God made up the difference and made all things possible.  She explained that hearing the doctor’s prognosis made her stomach curdle, however she wouldn’t take the doctor’s word as the “only” prognosis. My mother recalls hearing my faint little cry right as the doctor cut the umbilical cord. It was then that she breathed a sigh of relief. Her next fear was to check to see if I had ten toes, and ten fingers like that of a normal baby. So after a quick baby scan she breathed a second sigh of relief – all my parts were intact. She described her fear of holding me when the NICU nurse bundled me up and handed me to my mom. My mom mentioned that I was so fragile and tiny, but she soon got over her fear and began the skin-to-skin contact which is so therapeutic for preemies.

Following my premature infant research, I learned that less than one percent of babies in this country are born this early, and sadly enough, these babies have the most medical complications.  Extremely low birth weight (less than 2 pounds, 3 ounces) babies require special care. Almost all require treatment with oxygen, surfactant, and mechanical assistance to help them breathe. They’re also too immature to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time, so they must be fed through a vein (intravenously) until they develop these skills. They often can't yet cry (or you can't hear them due to the tube in their throat), and they sleep most of the day. These tiny babies have little muscle tone, and most move very little.

Compared to full term babies, babies born at this time look very different. Their skin is wrinkled and reddish-purple in color and is so thin that you can see the blood vessels underneath. Their face and body are covered in soft hair called lanugo. Because these babies haven't had time to put on fat, they appear very thin and fragile. Most likely, their eyes are closed and they have no eyelashes.

Premature babies have a higher risk for one or more medical complications. However, most babies born after about 26 weeks' gestation do survive to one year (about 80 percent of those born at 26 weeks and about 90 percent of those born at 27 weeks), although they may face an extended stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).  Unfortunately, about 25 percent of these very premature babies develop serious lasting disabilities, and up to half may have milder problems, such as learning and behavioral problems. But I’m a true testament that I most definitely beat the odds. I’ve had zero setbacks other than a little minor issue with childhood asthma, which I’ve outgrown (over time).

I truly know that I’ve been blessed beyond measure and I’m proud to say that I have no disabilities. With much love and care I soon progressed from a one pound 13 ounce baby boy to a whopping four pounds and was able to be released to go home. That date was January 24, 1997, and my parents could not have been happier. Of course my parents continued their vigilant watch as care takers; for the first year of my birth, especially due to my low tolerance and fragile immune system. Because of my extreme prematurity, I knew that I had to work harder than most of my peers in order to excel in academics to beat the odds. My mom recalls that I was a bit slow to begin walking (13 months old), but she says once I did I was off to the races. My parents were eager to teach me phonics as a toddler and I soon began reading (the one or two liner books) at the age of five. In our household, my parents always highlighted the importance of education, education, education. So there was no doubt that I would excel in elementary and high school and attend college.

The lessons learned throughout my “pre-mature”  journey have really benefitted me in every area of my life. My early childhood dream was to become a professional football player. However, over time I’ve since changed my dream and have decided to work in the healthcare field to help serve others.  I’m currently enrolled as a freshman at the University of Central Florida. If my inspirational story is chosen as a top contender, I will apply the scholarship funds to help further my college education to obtain a position in the Healthcare Field impacting others through health and fitness of the mind, body and soul. It is my goal to utilize my past life experience at beating the “premature infant” odds to inspire the many families and individuals within my community. I have no doubt that my testimony can and will motivate others who face disadvantages in life, to continue striving to “beat the odds.” 

Positive thoughts about brain cancer

Karen Barragan

In Mexico City, I lived a life that most people would have never considered ideal. My family of five and I lived in a one sized car garage, surviving off of my parents’ fruit stand. To me, my life was more than enough because I was blessed with one thing a united family. Although we weren’t the my wealthiest, I never had to worry about anything because my parents never failed to provide. At the age of seven, I would’ve never anticipated my parents urging me to pack all of my belongings and head out. “¿Papa adonde vamos a ir?” (Dad where are we going?) I asked as we walked to a worn out bench on the side of the road. The look on my father’s face said it all. We were on the outskirts of San Diego, in Escondido, with one suitcase, fifty dollars, and no where to go. I didn’t understand it at the time, but my family and I migrated to California without any form of stability. My parents had no plan, they had left Mexico on pure faith that we would arrive and God would provide. We spent the next couple of months without a roof over our heads surviving in community parks. Summer days became shorter and nights became longer as my father, an immigrant with a middle school education, took on the futile challenge of finding a job. As a seven year old, all I wanted was to be with my family, together, even if it were homeless in a community park. My parents were the only thing that were keeping me strong, and the nights I needed them the most, they were not there. They were in a different city looking for a job and could not afford a cab. Days would go by and I wouldn’t hear from my parents because there was no way of communicating with them. Some days, I wasn’t sure if they were going to return and I had to care for my two siblings. While my brothers slept, I stayed awake making sure they were safe, and began to figure out how I was going to feed them the next day. There were days that I would go without eating because my brothers were my priority. Regardless of how difficult times got, I never failed to provide food for them, if it were the most minimal piece of food. It was difficult keeping my family strong when I could barely pull myself together. After eight months, my father found work as a mechanic. Just when my life was slowly coming together, my mother became very ill, she was taken to a hospital in San Diego, where she stayed for four months. During that time, I took on the role of the mother in my household. Every day, I walked my brothers to school, made sure they were fed, and maintained the house. Rather than looking at my duties as a burden, I did everything I could in order for my mother to have peace in mind at the hospital. Even when my mother returned, she was in a state of depression for a year, and I continued my duties at home. In a way, I sacrificed my childhood so that my brothers could have one; it was worth it. I never grew tired of the duties that I upheld, it was an honor to assist my family. I am grateful for the things that I have been through because they have shaped me into the ambitious and empathetic person that I am today. My ambition comes from attaining a higher education in order to one day give back to the less fortunate communities. As an immigrant in the United States, I have strived to take advantage of all of the opportunities given to me in this country in order to set an example for underrepresented minorities. Ever since my arrival to the United States, I have learned that this country is a place filled with opportunities, it is just a matter of taking them. There isn’t necessarily one path towards success, every individual is different, however, I have learned that attaining a higher education is my way to success. Every difficulty that I have encountered in life has taught me to work for what I want. I have worked hard my entire life and will continue to work harder at the University of California, Santa Cruz in order to one day realize my life long goal of becoming a Pediatric Oncologist. I am a dreamer whose ambitious attitude comes from setting goals and taking every opportunity to achieve them. To me, a dream is much more than an idea or a thought. A dream is a goal I plan to achieve through dedication and hard work. Making a dream “possible” doesn’t mean that the dream will be any less more difficult to achieve. I know that I will constantly fail in life, but I will never let those failures get in the way of my goals. Even the most successful leaders have once failed, but my experiences have taught me to improve myself through certain failures.

Positive thoughts about brain cancer

Angelyn Dodson

My baby nephew was diagnosed with brain cancer in April. No brain tumor is good, but this one was particularly bad. It was one of the rarest, most aggressive and least treatable of all the tumors found in children. So my summer was spent in a children’s hospital. And I have to say, there’s nothing quite like spending weeks on end in a children’s hospital staring death in the face to change a person’s perspective. We heard a lot about positivity in there. Somewhere in between the radiation and music therapy, there was always a speech about continuing to think positively. At first, that frustrated me. What was positive about a life threatening brain tumor? What was positive about a brain tumor that was so rare that the doctors hardly knew how to treat it?  What was positive about chemotherapy that made my baby nephew so nauseous that he threw up any bit of food he ate or harsh antibiotics that made his face and mouth so itchy that he scratched until his lips flaked off? What was positive about a little boy facing death before he had even turned two years old? It was so hard to see the positivity in any of that. But at some point, that changed. It had to change.

Sometime around the third round of chemotherapy, the anger and negativity started getting to be too much. It was sucking the energy right out of me, it was stressing me out, it was depressing me, and ultimately, it was making the entire situation even more awful. I couldn’t change it, though. I couldn’t magically make the tumor disappear. I couldn’t make the chemotherapy more comfortable for him. I couldn’t rescue him from the confines of those gray hospital walls and bring him outside to sniff the air and feel the sun on his hairless head. I couldn’t make him better; I couldn’t save him. I felt helpless and at times, hopeless. I had no control over the situation. And that’s the worst - when things are out of your reach. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there is always one thing that is within your reach. Every person possesses a perspective and the ability to change that perspective. I didn’t change mine for a very long time, but when I did, things started looking up. That’s what’s powerful about positive thinking - not that it can change actual circumstances, but that it can change the way we perceive and react to our circumstances. It shapes our realities because our reality is the way we think about something. The world around us is nothing but the world around us if we do not think about it. But when we attach our ideas and thoughts to it, it becomes our world. So I had to choose - did I want to think positively or negatively? Would I fill my world with darkness or with light? I could choose to think that the cancer would prevail and I would lose my baby nephew. Or, I could choose to believe that my nephew would be victorious - that he would beat this thing and come out on the other side even stronger. I could choose to think that if I did lose him, I would fall apart; I would lose my light and hope and life would no longer be worth living. Or, I could choose to believe that if I lost him, I would be grateful for the beautiful months I had with him and I would use the story of his strength to inspire others in similar circumstances. Of course I knew that simply by thinking positively about it, I couldn’t make the cancer disappear. But I could make those horrible feelings of hopelessness and helplessness disappear. No, I didn’t begin to think positively because I thought it would heal him. I began to think positively because I knew it would heal me. 

My nephew is home now. Against tremendous odds, the cancer has not come back. Each and every day, he becomes a little bit stronger and a little bit healthier. And each day, I become a little more grateful and a little more hopeful. Grateful that I’ve been given so much time with him and hopeful that my time with him will be so much longer than I initially thought. Of course, the fight is not over. When it comes to cancer, it’s never really over - not in this lifetime, at least. If that awful beast ever strikes again, I know where I’ll be. I’ll be right at his bedside reading him a book, brushing those few remaining wisps of hair out of his eyes when the vomit comes, throwing a ball to him when he feels a little better and never letting my strength or faith waver. I know now that my positive thoughts won’t heal his body. But they’ll heal my soul and his, too, in the process. I don’t know what will happen to him. Of course I hope that he lives a long and wonderful life. But I know that no matter what, I’ll be able to carry on a purposeful life full of meaning and love, even if I need to live that life without him.

The power of positive thinking

Melody Moua

A proton according to science is an atom with a positive charge but in reality, I define it as a way of thinking where you can only find happiness when you are able to block out any negativity from your life. When I was younger I was an electron, I seem to always gravitate towards the negativities in my life; I cared too much about disregarding my feelings, trying to make everyone happy and always looked down upon my self.

I am the fourth child out of sixth, having three older sisters and two younger brothers; making me the middle child who can neither relate to her older sisters or younger brothers because of the age gap. Because of this, I didn’t have a leader or a follower, making me a lone ranger. Of course because I was a lone ranger, who had low self-esteem, when someone makes fun of me or gets upset because of me used to make me have a mental disturbance. Everything people say or do closes my heart and mind each time; I became a bitter person who can no longer reach out to anyone.

Let’s just say that during those puberty years, I wasn’t so proud of it. I closed everyone off, even praises from others eventually made me second-guess myself. The more I closed others from my life, the more hatred I developed, the more negativity I drew in; becoming an unhappy person. Our human mind is stronger than any other species on this planet Earth, we can control ourselves and train ourselves overtime to act a certain way, be a certain way, and become a person according to our emotions.

It wasn’t until the last few years of my high school year where I had met my music teacher that I began to see life in a different perspective. Every morning she always says to every student “Remember to be a positive person, think positively, block out any negativities and be happy because we only live once. Life is short so appreciate, love, and live every moment as if it is your last.” It was because of her words and actions that I began to change the way I view life. Of course this didn’t happen over night but it is something that gradually grew in me. When I finally realized that I had changed for the better, it really amazed me how much a person can appreciate life and find the connection with others.

It was because of her enthusiasm, her ability to see greatness and beauty in every person and thing that made me realize that I want to pursue in a career in teaching. When you think positively, you unknowingly give off a positive vibe, thus drawing only in positive people, even giving influence to those who are not happy. Now that it has been about five years, I feel great about myself. I now have great relations with my family and have discovered who I am and know what I want to become in life. I’ve learned not to stress but instead see it as a challenge. I’ve learned the importance of having hope, having faith, and seeing the greatness in others.

I have gained acceptance to Georgia State University’s Early Childhood Education program and am currently working my way to landing my dream job. Through this program, I am able to find joy when teaching in my field placement classroom at an elementary school. I have developed the talent of being able to relate and talk to my students effectively while also getting them to see all of the great things in life. I love seeing the face expressions that my students make when they finally grasp a concept or idea. I love the challenge of finding new methods and ideas to help each student improve in their weak subjects. I enjoy making lesson plans that cater to every student’s needs and best of all, I especially enjoy passing on my knowledge to the future generations. I am only now faced with the obstacle of financing my education. Just like my formal music teacher, I want to become an influential teacher and mentor to my future students; with a philosophy of always bringing positivity to their lives.  

“The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, and give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, and think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.” 

― Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

Personal growth

 Chelsea Walters

 “It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears. It’s a world of hopes and a world of fears. There’s so much that we share that it’s time we’re aware. It’s a small world after all…”  

The profound eloquence of this “simple” children’s song summarizes the best part about my study abroad. Before departing, I believed this once in a lifetime trip to places which I had only previously seen on postcards, would be the great adventure I longed for. My romanticized, preconceived notions did not come close to the lifelong lessons I learned by engaging in daily conversations with people who have never travelled outside of their homeland.  

The people I met had drive, perseverance, passion and a strong desire to make something of their lives in spite of the many obstacles they faced. This inspired me so that when I awoke each morning. I chose to focus on these positive thoughts throughout my trip. I approached the day as an opportunity to learn from someone new, from someone whose experience was different from mine. Therefore, I gained an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and wanted to learn more about their lives because the experiences they shared, I could not learn in a textbook. I truly believe that my focusing on this positive attitude brought more positive experiences into my life. I was able to take each day as a learning experience for the next. But more importantly, I was able to take my entire study abroad experience, and use it to shape my life into what it is today because I believed that it could.  

In New Orleans, Louisiana, on the city bus on my way to class, I spoke with a New Orleanian man who weathered Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In Chennai, India, in a rickshaw on my way to an artist's market, I spoke with the driver about his childhood in rural Tamil Nadu. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, I chatted with the cashier of a local convenience store about his daughter's upcoming wedding in Mexico. In Cape Town, South Africa, with a local shop owner, I discussed dreams of future vacation destinations in the United States.  

These conversations and many others like it allowed me to have a deeper understanding about the culture in which I was immersed and through them, I learned about myself. It was in those moments that I began to analyze and critique my previously limited view of the world. I have come to understand that diversity is not merely having an understanding of the existence of different cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, or gender. It is a deeper appreciation that enlightens you and helps you realize that acceptance of others, unlike yourself, does not take away from who you are or who you may become. Unique and varied experiences create diversity, discovered when we share our goals and desires. These experiences bring us closer together creating a community in which people can thrive; hence, my full understanding “it’s a small world after all”.  

A simple smile indicates a willingness and openness of acceptance of one another and thereby creates the foundation for community. It is a way to express positive thinking to others and it is almost contagious. A smile may seem small and inconsequential and many take for granted, but it can have a powerful impact on a human being. Furthermore, it is a way for people to feel like they are not alone in the world. It gives babies, children, and adults a feeling of comfort and safety. It is often accompanied by laughter and kindness, which also strengthens the interaction between people. I believe that one of the most important things that a smile can bring is a feeling of trust in others. It is the basis of many of the interactions we have with each other and how we move around in the world.  

I strongly value this idea of community and I believe that by incorporating positive thinking within the conscious of the community can have positive results. It could be used to strengthen the relationship amongst students, educators, dentists, and patients. It is very important to include all members in the community because we can all combine our own strengths and work collectively for the greater good. I believe that education sets the foundation and gives students the tools to contribute to the community in which we chose to be immersed in. It is here during our time in school, that we will be able to share our goals and desires in order to thrive.  

In the end, the true adventure was my trip of personal growth. It is now my goal to leverage these shared experiences into my chosen career. I believe that I have the potential and drive to do this by fixing one smile at a time. I flourish when I set concrete goals for myself. A career in dentistry will allow me to do all of these things. My approachability will bring patients to my dental chair, but it is my honesty, compassion for people, and genuine interest in the well-being of others that will get them to come back again and again. I believe this separates good professionals from great ones.  

Throughout my travels, I made it a point to have conversations with as many people as I could. I have seen with my own eyes that the core of humanity is the same no matter where you travel in the world, or what language you speak or how much money you make. My approach towards a dental career will be the same as the manner in which I conduct my personal life. To begin with a bright smile and ask people how their day is going so far. I am confident that the life lessons learned during my travel abroad will be an integral part of my dental career as I develop professional relationships with patients and hopefully, bring a new smile to their days and they’ll be able to pass that positivity onto others.

The principle of personal development

Kimberly Cross

“All the tests confirmed it- You have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy”. I know a girl who had to hear these words from a doctor she barely knew. Not even the colorful rooms of Seattle Children’s Hospital could cover up how those words cut through her like several knives. She was nine years old. All she had ever known was the torment of bullies and the empty feeling of playing alone at recess. When she would go home, she would not think of the heartbreak that was being caused. She knew she was different, but she refused to let anything stop her from being happy. She didn’t know a thing about adversity, but she overcame it. She was nine years old, and there she was being told that in six years or less she would likely be confined to a wheelchair and barely able to breathe on her own. No girl deserves this, not because genetics say that females aren’t supposed to get this form of Muscular Dystrophy, but because no one should have to face this. She refused to give up hope, even though she had a degenerative and potentially deadly disease that was incurable. What could she have done about it? It was all beyond her control, but she figured her attitude was within her control. Being happy is way better than being depressed, so she chose her own happiness. Nine years later, here she is, still walking, against most odds. She is still living her life. Here in a couple of weeks, she will start college at the University of Washington- Bothell, all because she never gave up. This girl focused on what was within her control, and never let go of those things that were within reach and meant the most to her. She still focuses on what she can control, and everything else is what she leaves for fate to decide.
            If you’re wondering who that girl mentioned above is, I am that girl, and I am proud to be. I am Kimberley Cross, and I love my life at this very moment, because I accepted what I cannot change. I am the one that sat in that room and was told about all of the “can’ts” there would be in my life. Was I and am I still terrified of them? Yes, definitely. Are they in my control? No, absolutely not. If I can’t control these things, by default, what I have left is what I CAN control. The “cans” will always be up to me. I am in control of those. In general, no matter what a person’s struggle is, aspects of live can be placed into two categories- what we can control, and what we cannot control. I have a choice to make every day, and it’s between feeling sorry for myself, or finding happiness. I always choose happiness, even when I am having a bad day. I give myself a few minutes a day to feel sorry for myself, but that few minutes is enough to remind me why I am so optimistic. That, my friend is why I find happiness. It’s always better to be happy and surround myself with the people I love, and do the things I love doing. Love and happiness are my favorite parts of life. They are not always easy to have as a constant in life, so of course they require some work. Everything that is truly worthwhile takes work, and I do not mean working to make money so you can buy those awesome shoes. I mean you have to put in effort to get what you want in life. We must take a stand when our values are being challenged, and show that we believe in what we claim to believe in. Focusing on things we can control is a principle of personal development that applies here. Our values, beliefs, goals, dreams, and accomplishments are all in our control. These are important. We are not able to control the obstacles that stand in our way, but what we can control is what we do to get around them. I have learned that the way my life turns out is mostly up to me, and that I need to focus on what matters the most to me, or I will lose my sanity trying to focus on what is beyond my control.
            When I ran for ASB secretary at the end of my sophomore year of high school, I did not realize I would get the position. I had just started at Marysville Pilchuck High School eight months earlier. That was when I realized that I really wanted to serve others to the best of my ability. Being elected ASB secretary was a turning point in my life. Being an ASB officer was a goal I had, and something I could control. This really proved to me that focusing on what I can control truly pays off. The next school year, I walked in as a junior and the ASB secretary of MPHS. I felt super excited and grateful that I was finally an ASB officer. I was ready for whatever life decided to throw at me (Except AP U.S. History. I switched out of that class after the first day due to intimidation. Believe me, that was a BIG mistake). I conquered AP literature, College Algebra and Chemistry. They don’t lie when they say junior year is the most rigorous. I was okay though, because I knew that getting good grades was something I had control of. The 3.95 I got was better than most of my previous GPA’s, but not quite good enough for me, because I knew I could do better. I had three goals set for the end of my junior year. Number one was to finally get a 4.0, which I did do, and my second one was to make nationals for DECA. Goal number three was to be elected ASB president. In March, elections applications were finally released, and I turned in my completed application the day before the state DECA competition. As for what I was in control of, I was fully in control of the DECA competition, and as for the election, I had to perfect my speech and campaign, and the rest was up to my fellow classmates. At the DECA conference, I only placed 35th, and  I needed to be in the top seven to move on to Nationals. At first I was upset, but then I realized I still did pretty well for a first time competitor. I knew that I just had to put in more work the following year. It was a learning experience for me. A couple of weeks later, it was time for me to give my speech, and elections followed a few days later. The Friday after elections, our Elections chair and president at the time counted ballots. I awaited a text message for about an hour. When I finally received and opened that message, the first thing I saw was a name that was not mine next to president. I said some profanity, and cried for quite a while. That was all I had dreamt of since I started at MPHS. Just like that, my dream was crushed. I felt like the biggest failure in the world. A week or so later, I had a wakeup call. That was not the Kimberley Cross I knew and loved. I might not have been ASB president, but I was appointed as PR Manager. I did everything right, I campaigned and practiced my speech. It was not my fault that I did not get elected president. What I could control was what I was going to do next. I set goals for my senior year, and I continued with one of my passions, which was being a servant leader.
            When I started my senior year, I thought it would be the perfect year. I had just gotten a power chair, so I was excited to actually be on time to my classes and not have to walk everywhere. The truth was that my body could not handle that much walking anymore, and knowing that was kind of painful, but I learned quickly that I felt much more independent than when I was walking around. The progression of my disease was out of my control, and it was not something to worry about too much, but having a great year was. That year was going well until October 24, 2014. I was the senior homecoming princess, in the leadership class, I was on the yearbook staff, and I had just started applying for colleges. October 24th seemed like a normal Friday, until a fire alarm went off in my fifth period class. When we headed out toward the football field, there were teachers yelling at students to get inside a classroom, and a student yelling “Someone has a gun!” It turned out someone pulled the alarm to get everyone out of the cafeteria. When I made it into a classroom, my friends were looking at the news on their phones. That was when it really hit me that a shooting just happened at my school. The shooter and two others were dead at the scene. When they evacuated everyone, and I finally got back home, I found out that my friend Zoe was one of the students that died at the scene. I was shocked, confused, and I was just numb. It wasn’t until way later at a candlelight vigil that I was able to actually show emotion. That was the worst day of my life. There is not a day that I don’t think about what happened, but I don’t let it bring me down, and I didn’t dwell on it. Instead, I thought about what I needed to do as a servant leader when we returned to school. I did what I did best, and I made sure that everyone knew they can talk to me about anything. I offered hugs and I helped some people who were having a harder time coping with everything. The principle of focusing on things I could control really helped me. I knew I couldn’t change what happened, or that five members of our student body were gone. I did know that I could help people just by being a good friend to those around me, so that is what I did. Miracles happened after the tragedy, which helped our student body, faculty, and community recover. Our community became more united than it was before. People across our country and the world were supporting us. Our sports, band and DECA chapter did better than ever before. We had a few bomb threats, but our school and community got through it together. I found out that I had been accepted into the University of Washington- Bothell, I was a finalist in the state competition for DECA, and I helped create an amazing yearbook with my fellow yearbook staff members. Sure, the beginning of my senior year had some obstacles, but it ended on a pretty positive note.  I am so proud to have graduated from Marysville Pilchuck.
            This principle of personal development has absolutely made a positive influence on my life. I have always strongly believed that focusing on what I can’t change is a waste of time. It is more important to focus my time and effort on what I can control, because those things will affect my future more adversely. I have overcome so much in eighteen years of life, and if I focused on aspects of life that were unchangeable, I would have used up the time that I needed to reach my goals. By living by this principle, I was able to choose happiness instead of anger and depression. Focusing on things within my control has helped me fight Muscular Dystrophy, come to terms with my diagnosis, and deal with other challenges. It also allows me to not constantly think about the obstacles I face every day. I have overcome adversity in the many forms in which it presented itself, and I will have more to overcome. I will continue to do what makes me happy, and if I ever get to a point where I am not, I know I have the power to change what I have control of, and I will find my happiness again. For now, I need to focus on the new chapter of my life that starts in a couple of weeks, and of course the controllable things in my life. I have grown so much as a person over the past nine years, and I can’t wait to see what my future holds.

The Human Brain

Janet Campos

Awakening from sleep only to repeat the same thing as before; a norm adapted because the stretch to happiness is out of hindsight. Work is the only objective to true happiness because it leads to money. But who has the time to spend and enjoy it, when you are working twelve hours a day from two in the afternoon to two in the morning, five days a week and, too tired to go out on the weekend because sleep is being lost. Whether it is physically or mentally, many people live this type of life because they don't comprehend the capacity of the human brain. Perhaps not everyone feels little significance towards life because of the overload of work. They suffer from loss, love, depression, identity, society, pressure, family, education, etc. But one this is certain. We pain from so much, yet it feels inevitable. So we begin to panic, and next thing you know we are thousands of feet above ground, standing on the edge of the tallest building in the city; one push can end it all.

The human brain is the superpowers we saw on the television that we wished we desperately had. Sure, flying can take us places, super strength can destroy our enemies, and we will be gazed at as heroes by society. However, we have much more than that, much electrifying energy brawling within us since the day we were born. We attract things into our life with every single thought illustrated in our minds, every feeling that makes a shiver run down our spine. Just like the laws of nature and gravity are inevitable, so is this. The Law of Attraction. To explain this amazing phenomenon, I would like to reach out to my audience in hopes that you can relate.
I'll begin with rock bottom and the pebbles, although they seem small and harmless, gashed into my knees from climbing to the top. The Law of Attraction is there to serve us, in the good and in the bad. Entering my junior year in high school, I had many high expectations for myself because my immigrant parents didn't have the slightest clue why they signed the blue paper. That blue paper was an Advanced Placement (AP) contract. I signed up for AP United States History (APUSH), AP Spanish Language, and AP English and Composition. My claim behind taking three AP classes was the lack of importance my school had on education. I felt I had not earned those A's and B's my sophomore year by still obtaining credit when turning in late work or even having open notes exams. I wanted to learn something for a change while knowing I earned that letter grade. I wanted to avoid ignorance from hovering over me, and I end up living a miserable life. Now I know I wasn't ignorant for taking the classes. Rather I was blindly ignorant for not looking at the broader overview of taking three college level classes. 

I didn't know I would be outside the party for honor roll. I didn't know that APUSH was a genuinely complex than expected. I didn't know that by just opening up one flaw I found in APUSH, I opened a closet full of flaws that haunted me for the longest time ever. The speed of these classes was overbearing, I couldn't keep up without falling behind. As I tried to fix my grade in APUSH, another leak would spill on AP English. I didn't know that staying too long patching up one leak, that all "patched" up holes began to leak. I didn't know that I was actually a failure at picking up the slack. I never thought I would cry on the walk home from school after meeting with my APUSH teacher telling me herself, that I am failing. These small nervous breakdown mean nothing as I write them out, but the feeling was that of a hammer cracking my chest open.
Many other aspects of my life unraveled, and not the good ones. I lost a friend over a stupid fight, I gained more weight, I was alone, my self esteem dropped further down. I felt less human as the leaks continued to pour out. Insecurities made me come home to eat away my feelings, which just carved a bigger hole inside myself. It came to the point where I was literally drowning from the leaks because thoughts of ending my life permanently crossed my mind, and never left the other end of my brain. I would grab an sharp object attainable to slither it's tusk onto my skin. The pink marks and oozing blood became my new art show. I never told my family because I love them dearly, but they did know I was depressed since I began to see a psychiatrist and a depression group. I felt ashamed in attending these new types of "treatment" because my family discovered that something was wrong with me. I never wanted them to figure me out, I felt like I failed once again to keep my pain at bay from my family. 

During my senior year, I managed to stop the leaks, but I was still able to see the holes that remained. The hollow feeling developed inside my heart. Salt water stopped igniting a tsunami from my wet rainy eyes. This wasn't a good thing because my brain switched gears. I was no longer afraid of slicing my wrists open, or overdosing until I'm out of it. I didn't just want death, I wanted to erase my existence. A reason was no longer needed to understand why I was suicidal, just that I no longer wanted life. This is how far I brought myself, and I despised myself. My big thighs, circular stomach, saggy arms, geeky glasses, overblown face. I could have lived with that, but the main issue came from my neck. I didn't have one, or as society labels it, a double chin. I didn't have a neck. I wanted to stand tall, see all the things I can't see. How I would gaze at other girls who had the perfect jaw line, no extra fat residing on their beautiful faces. I stopped wearing bangs, allowing my dry curly hair to hide my shame. 

Eventually, I spotted The Secret. The book that explains the Law of Attraction. I knew it in my sleep, yet here I was, sad and miserable. I did it without thinking and just picked it up from the bookshelf and began to read it. I would read it in school, during passing periods, at lunch, after school as I would wait for the bus, the small walk from the bus station to my house. Throughout the time I read, all I could think about is the life that I am missing out on. My environment was intoxicating, I wasn't happy. I began with something small to make me happy. AP English Literature. It was the only class in which I had an A. The A that I had not seen on my report card for a year! I still cry when I look back at them on my transcripts. As I'm entering the college life, I see the major difference that class has helped me with. It's not just about being able develop an essay so easily. It's the passion I have found in writing, because it makes me happy. 

Something so small and simple turned my life around, made my life a little less miserable throughout my high school career. I used this new found joy to make it throughout high school. When I was handed my diploma, I was set free. I was no longer binging on food, I was not depressed. It was slowly coming off. Now, I had the chance of either helping myself to a better life or continue a life of misery as before. 

I'm currently attending a community college. I will transfer to California Polytechnic State University Pomona in 2017, and moving out there in the summer of the same year. By 2020, I will be a licensed Nutritionist in Dietetics, a Bachelors in Science, a Bachelors in Creative Writing, a Minor in English Literature, and a Minor in Business. Blending all of these achievements together, and the world has themselves a famous author who dedicates her time serving aid and information to malnutritioned children, teens, and adults. Aiming to help them to a healthy, diet life, just like she used to struggle with. 

I don't care if I'm undocumented, I will make it. I don't care if the United States Government or Donald Trump becomes president and every Republican against immigrants tells me I'm not an American citizen, because I know I am. I don't care if my family disbeliefs in my effort to achieve my goals, because I want to be the first to witness their dumbfounded expressions as I rejoice with love and joy as I fling around my bachelor degrees on their faces. This is the power of the human brain. From wailing because of inner pain, to feeling comfort and love within me and the world at large. It may seem like I haven't accomplished much yet, but that's because it is still being written. 

It may sound cheesy, but we must believe in ourselves because not only are we receiving the nutrients needed to discover our inner beauty, but will also be rearranging our life to the way we want it. The one in which we awaken with a new adventure waiting to be discovered. The only thing that repeats itself is the continued, everlasting, happiness.

Focusing on things you can control

Mary Giambrone

I was six when I found out that my mom’s cousin had cancer. 

This was the first time I’d ever heard of cancer. I was shocked. I asked my mom if there was something I could do to help. She told me about a program called Locks of Love, where people donated hair to be made into wigs for children undergoing chemotherapy. Because I was so young, I knew that this was the only way I could help. I was proud to donate 10 inches of my hair to help kids who, other than the fact that they had cancer, were just like me. 

Cousin Jenni was always one person I could count on to encourage my artistic side. When I was a kid, she would always give me arts and craft kits, like wood painting or beading kits. She organized the crafts at our family’s annual holiday parties. She crocheted, and she greatly influenced my decision to learn how to knit, crochet, and sew. Most of my life centered on school, and she would always show concern that I was being pushed or pressured too much academically. She wanted me to balance out my studies with something creative, and always asked about the progress of my sewing and knitting projects. As she got sicker and stopped being able to crochet herself, she gave me several of her crochet hooks and skeins of yarn. 

For the entire time that she was sick, all I could do was keep donating hair. I would cut off ten inches about every year and a half. It upset me to see girls place so much emphasis on their hair, while other children couldn’t afford real hair wigs and had to go bald. There’s not much that the average person can do in their everyday lives to help fight cancer, but even a child like me could cut her hair. 

As I got older, I could do more than just cut my hair. Helping people became a priority for me. Jenni had inspired me to give just as sincerely as she had given me her support and encouragement. I started to do things to help the community, like volunteering at my local library and at my little brother’s elementary school. I started a knitting club at my high school and we did a project to knit chemo caps and donate them. Last year, I cut my hair again for the sixth time. So, to date, I’ve donated around 60 inches of hair - only about half a foot less than my height. 

Although she fought cancer for almost 15 years, Jenni died in 2012. I distinctly remember the day that she went into hospice. It was devastating. She had lasted for so long that it seemed like the cancer would never beat her. That day made me realize for the first time the finality of it all. I just couldn’t understand it. How could someone know that they had only a few days to live? How did she wake up every morning and think, this could be my last day? How could she not be so terrified? She lasted a week in hospice. In a way, the day that she went into hospice was worse than the day she actually died. At that point, I was just numb. 

What scared me the most about hearing her going into hospice was the utter lack of control anyone had over the situation. It meant that the end was nearly here, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. I didn’t know how anyone could stand that. 

Now, when I think of cancer, I think of things I can do to help. I can donate my hair. I can knit and crochet chemo caps. I’m not going to be the person to cure cancer, but I can help the people suffering from it in my own small way. I’ve come to this conclusion over the past several years. 

Focusing too much on a problem you can’t control just makes everything seem futile and worthless. When I heard that Jenni was going into hospice, I got trapped in a mindset of thinking “What’s the point? We are all going to die anyway, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Since then, I’ve realized that we can focus on the things that can be controlled; and that’s what I’ve been doing. At the time, donating my hair was the one thing I could do to help, the one thing I could control about the awful situation of cancer - so I did it. 

I’m still sad Jenni is no longer here, but I know that she’d be happy that she continues to influence my life. She taught me not only to embrace creativity, but to give and to help others. Kindness isn’t futile. Helping is not wasted time. There’s always something that can be done to help a situation: tutoring, volunteering, even holding the door for someone. It doesn’t have to be drastic; it can be as simple as cutting your hair.

Focusing on things you can control

Cassandra Fulfer
Monmouth College

When I was a Junior in high school, my step mom took me to some college visits to four different colleges. I fell in love with Monmouth. A college that is 40k a year. The whole universe was against me. Throughout my whole first semester at the college I knew I wouldn't be able to afford the second semester. No matter how hard I worked that summer, I was 1k short in funds. I fought hard. I studied hard. I asked for help. Professors let me do side jobs, cat sit, what have you, it still wasn't enough. 

One prof made a case with financial aid in the end and they gave me another $1,000 in loans. I could afford the semester. Then it was summer again. I had my field job but I knew I needed another job to afford the year ahead. 

In the middle of June I finally got a second job. I worked 70 hours a week just to barely scrape by and afford the year's expenses. 

The end of the spring semester rolled around. I was feeling good, I would have my field job and my job in the deli and I would be able to afford the trip to Ireland that my band was planning to take nest spring break. I was excited.

My brother called me before the end of the semester and told me the fields we work in shut down, the company owed China billions of dollars. I was out of a job that was going to pay me $11 an hour. Three-thousand dollars just washed down the drain in mere seconds. 

Now I just had Meijer. I was working hard to get a second job but everyone wanted someone who could work longer than three months. There was no way I would be able to drive back and forth from Monmouth to Bloomington to work and somehow get my homework done. 

I was stuck with Meijer and my small church cleaning job. I figured my expenses and with the RA job I would be able to afford both semesters, barely.  

And then I realized I was trans. I was a trans man placed in an all girl's dorm who couldn't afford to be in a co-ed dorm and without the RA job. What was I going to do? I needed to come out as myself, my depression was crashing down on me more and more each day, and I wasn’t willing to lose my income to afford school at the same time as becoming myself. Back to square one, much like the first semester of my freshman year. I had to delay becoming myself to be able to still go to my college. Did I let that thought stop me from doing anything? No. The whole world felt like it was against me but I fought for what I believed I deserved because I know no one else would do it for me. 

I could have given up and taken a year off and came back next year with the funds and it would be easier, and I could be myself. But I was not going to do that, because in my eyes, even coming back like that is me giving up. You’ve got to fight for the things you want and believe in. It's tough, everything might feel like it is against you, but you slap it out of the way and you fight for what you want. 

So, then came the time for me to come out to everyone. My RA job was up in the air but I needed to focus on myself, to be myself. I had compiled legal documents and laws in a word document, proof that they couldn’t fire me for being transgender. I was ready to fight. 

A friend and I then started to spread a survey around our college about gender equality to help let the student body speak for the equality the school needs. The responses were overwhelming and over 90% of the people who took the survey answered that they would be comfortable having a transgender RA and also agreed that the college needed gender-inclusive bathrooms and housing. 

A few weeks after that, while still contacting the Resident Life staff at my college, I finally was told for sure that my job was secure. So, a few days later I came out to everyone with a poem that I wrote and recorded myself saying out loud. The positive responses and encouragement that all of my friends and family showed was incredible. My grandma hasn’t spoken to me since I came out but I try not to focus on that. I can’t control how her religious beliefs tell her that what I am doing is wrong, so the decision to continue to be in my life is a choice she has to make on her own. 

I can’t control that my mom and step dad are alcoholics. I can’t control that employers won’t hire me for a few months in the summer so that I can better afford tuition. But I can control what I do and say. I can control whether or not I fight for my rights as a trans man. I can control who I am, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. I have fully decided to focus on myself and I know that everything else will come after. Now that I have been out to everyone for a little over a month, I can proudly share the articles about my transition that I have published on the blog Hello Giggles. I no longer have to be so afraid that no one will accept me. I entered my Junior year at college with everyone calling me Hayden and using he/his/him pronouns. I have made more friends in the last two weeks than I did all of last year. My battle is long from over. My next obstacles are waiting for my gender therapist to finally prescribe me testosterone, so my body and voice can finally feel like my own. Another battle is trying to graduate with Honors next year when one single class stands in my way of having to drop the entire program. So, the control I take now, is I have made this video, this scholarship submission to help me afford this semester which leaks into helping me afford next semester, making it more likely that I can afford a summer class in order to graduate with honors in the spring of 2017.  

While life seems to like to throw everything it can in the way of my happiness, I have no intentions of giving up. I will graduate with honors. I will become the man I have always been on the inside. I will fight for what I want and what I believe because no one else will, I’ll be my own knight in shining armor.

Attracting our desires into a reality

Perla v. Huerta May

“Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become actions. Watch your actions. They become habits. Watch your habits. They are your destiny,” said Lao Tzu. My mother used to preach these words of Lao quite often to me as a child. At the time I never had a clear understanding of what she was referring to, or what it even meant. Being a child I followed my mothers influence on these idea. However, as an adult I cleared any doubts that I had regarding the law of attraction. Over the years, my beliefs, understanding, and interests over the law of attraction have immeasurably grown. Now I understand there is no tree without a seed, I will cultivate that which I plant. This is why I give my thoughts the importance they deserve. After all, they are the defining point of my future.

Dr. Camilo Cruz once said “Change your inner dialogue and create a new kind of image in your subconscious mind of the way you hope and want things to happen”. In this very short statement I can target more than six empowered words. One of them being “Change” which I consider crucial because without change, we cannot grow as a person. We can grow only with change if we modify our old inefficient habits for good new ones and develop the appropriate skills. “Inner Dialogue” is another great pair of words, being that in order to achieve our dreams and goals we need to start with ourselves. The motivation that will guide us to success has to come within us, and the only way to gather this type of motivation is by paying close attention to our mindset. Observe our thought patterns and check if we have established in our minds any type of limitations that prevents us from going that extra mile that will bring us closer to our goals. If we understand that nothing can prevent us from achieving our goals, and trust in our capabilities in the same way that a person who loves us dearly does, we would achieve anything without having any second thoughts. Although, believing in our capabilities is not the only mindset we must maintain, we need to become more disciplined and use this discipline in the form of acting. In order to act first we need to “Create”, which is the third empowered word on Cruz’s statement. As a twenty one year old, I have understood that if I want to live the life I have dreamed of, first I need to know exactly what I want. I have had to dedicate time just to think of what it specifically is that I’m striving for, how do I want my future to look like, and how can I attain it. Which leads me to the fourth empowered word “Images”. To be able to relate images to my goals, I have had to dream, imagine myself proud of my occupation, see myself contempt at the place I will live, and imagine myself already possessing happiness for me and the people in my life. For the law of attraction demands that words are not enough, we need to relate the words with images. In short, I need to know what I want which will allow me to begin acting upon the future that I would be creating for myself. “Subconscious” is the fifth key word. The subconscious mind is one of the greatest gifts we posses as humans. Unlike the conscious mind, the subconscious never sleeps. We can take advantage of that simply by reading books and listening to audiotapes that cover specific areas of our lives. Even listening to motivational speakers will leave an impact on our subconscious mind. Also, if we truly believe in the power of the subconscious mind, we know that we can lie to ourselves. Not in a negative way, although we can make statements of how good we are at something that we desire to excel at, and eventually we will believe it ourselves and therefore become it. We can make our mind believe anything we conceive to be the truth. Last but not least “Happen”, the fact that our most valued dreams actually end up happening, is the entire point of the law of attraction. Every individual has the option and responsibility to work with positive thinking and action towards their dreams. For “The Universe only awards consistent effort” said Cruz.

In conclusion, we can have great ideas for our future, and possess the right mindset. However, our thoughts must be followed by consistent action. Thoughts alone will not make our dreams happen. We must stop for a moment and think for ourselves what it is what our hearts truly desire and make it a priority to attract our desires into a reality. For only we can chase our dreams and since life does not wait for anyone, I will not wait for life either, because life is now.

It's Not Your Fault

Zhané Washington

There is no right way, or easy way to cope with a parental separation. It isn’t wrong to cry, or feel confused, scared, and completely thrown off. No matter what age you are or who you are, it is difficult to comprehend that your family is being torn apart. I know I had trouble understanding it back in 2008.
            I had a typical blissful family complete with yearly trips, timeshares, and amusement park passes. My brother and I participated in several extracurricular activities and our parents were sure to attend as many as they could. Together, as a loving married couple. So the fact that these moments ended so abruptly and cruelly was a hard pill to swallow.
            Were all of our family memories a lie? Were my parents just faking happiness for the sake of their children? I had no idea, and it hurt to think about it. It hurt to know that I wouldn’t be able to see them in the same household and it terrified me that I would have to choose between them.
            I ran away from the idea for as long as I could, but reality was quicker than me. It caught up to me the day we sold our house. I remember when we first moved into our bare household. My father spent months decorating the place to make it feel more welcoming and even added drywall to certain areas to make them bigger. My mother took care of interior designing. They worked so hard to build us a place to make memories and to love one another. Then, in a flash, their hard work was being sold to the highest bidder.
            As we slowly began to prepare our house for sale, I knew the choice was imminent. My mother stayed with a friend until the court date, so my brother and I rode with my father to the building. Before they went in, my parents sat on opposite sides of the room. Quiet, no eye contact, with so much tension between them that it was almost palpable.
            A court official stepped out from the court room the case would be held in and told us we could come in. My mother went in first, then her attorney who was followed by my father, his attorney, my brother, and then me. I was halted at the door however and instructed to wait outside with the official who had motioned us in. I was too young to take part in the proceedings.
            The session felt longer than years, maybe even light years, and I was getting anxious. I tapped my heels together and played with my hair that my aunt straightened specifically for the occasion. When the door finally opened I looked at my mother’s face and my heart sank. She was crying and barely holding herself together. She saw me, bent down, and gave me a big hug before leaving. It took me a moment, but then it was clear that I was now in legal custody of my father.
            I was aware that the court made the decision and it had little to do with me personally but it felt as if I was the one who hurt my mother. I thought she would resent me for abandoning her and the thought was mentally corrosive. It is this kind of thinking that is “incorrect” when experiencing a parental separation. Or rather it is an unhealthy way to think. It is not your fault and you cannot feel down for something that happened between two adults. I know firsthand this is easier said than done but it is important to keep that in mind.
            Instead of wallowing in guilt and pitying my mother, I doubled my efforts to talk to her from that day forward. I focused on reinforcing our bond and making sure that she knew I loved her no matter what. I also understood that she was not the only one going through hard times as a result of the divorce. My father now had to support two children mainly by himself.
            Therefore I focused on achieving the best marks possible in class and staying out of trouble. I couldn’t control or fix what transpired between my parents, but I could control how I reacted. I could control myself and my behavior. Instead of acting out or going down the wrong path, I focused on being one less thing for them to worry about. This mentality is one that I still hold today.
            I focus on being the best that I can be so that my parents can have at least one thing they agree on. That they raised a good kid. I strive to be a stable common ground between them. So if your parents are like mine, try this method of motivation. Turn the negative into something positive.   

Perseverance and vision

Luz Nunez
University of California Riverside

Each person has a different sense of style and living because we are all unique in our own way. Our choices develop the personality and background we have. Though society expects us to behave a certain manner, it does not necessarily mean that all will benefit from following the same path. Major factors that define us are the education, the workforce, and self-confidence one obtains.
            My family offered me limited educational resources and we reside within a deprived community. Neither of my parents had the opportunities like me to be able to attend college. They both are regulated to work in the manual labor work force to earn a living. My father must wake up at five in the morning to work at a glass company, while my mother works in a restaurant washing dishes, cleaning tables, and mopping floors.

My family continually faces financial challenges in paying bills and household expenses. Since both of my parents still have family members residing in another country, they regularly send money to their families.  Particularly, my mother has an elderly father and two mentally ill siblings, who rely on her for their financial well-being.  Witnessing how hard my parents must work to provide for my family and those in a foreign nation, I have applied for part-time work to assist with my family’s income.

I reside in a small community that is heavily populated by Latinos, where academic achievements tend to be low and college attendance is a privilege. I am aware that those of my generation are children of undocumented parents, which poses difficulties for our families to secure stable employment and provide a good living. My parents and those of my community strive their best to work diligently to support their families since the majority of us are uneducated, with many never having higher than a middle school education.  Without the educational support of our parents and community, I have learned that I have needed to be self-reliant and seek resources for my own academic success.

The most significant experience that prepared me for the rigors of college was my acceptance into the Upward Bound Program (UBP). The UBP provided opportunities for me to succeed in my precollege performance and ultimately to be admitted to a four-year university of my choice. While in the UBP, I have increased and maintained excellent scores, as well as being motivated to pursue and engage in higher-level courses. I realized how misinformed and directionless I was in preparing for college.

            The UBP has offered me services more valuable than knowing how to fill out an application or conduct an interview. During the summer of 2012, I was provided the opportunity to take a Geometry course during the summer residential program at Chapman University. I learned to expand my network capital with other staff, students, and mentors. Additionally, I was selected as a participant of the 2013 Northern California Campus Tour. During the four-day trip, I visited eight universities and was tasked to create a power point about Dominican University, a private college in San Rafael, California.  This presentation, along with many others required by UBP, helped me develop public speaking skills, which as increased my self-confidence. Having self-confidence allows me to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself to pursue more ambitious goals, new experiences, and access knowledge beyond my own frame of reference.

Upward Bound encourages students to pursue their higher educational goals. The staff motivated me to remain focused on my academics. They provided continual academic monitoring and gave me the skills to become a more effective student. The students in the program have reinforced and strengthened my social skills, being surrounded by students who have similar goals to mine reinforced my desire to be academically competitive and ahead of the game.

Throughout my high school years, I have also been a member of another organization entitled Youth Speak Collective (YSC). YSC became a second home that provided an academic setting with knowledgeable tutors and staff who have assisted me to learn both inside and outside of the classroom. With the supportive individualized attention I received in counseling and mentoring services, I was able to improve my role in society. YSC offers various programs for youth to be educated, healthy, and safe. Visual Arts is the program that makes available canvases, acrylic paints, and other art supplies so that the youth can express their minds on paper which avoids graffiti on the streets. Women’s Circle is a program that empowers the voice of young women and informs them of resources available. In addition, YSC has provided community service hours to youth by beautifying local recreational areas.  YSC has provided me with my first internship at the headquarter office as a Youth Advocate. I have become an inquisitive learner and continue to seek further opportunities for personal growth and development. Youth Speak has offered me the preparation and confidence necessary to take with me to future endeavors. I have confidence in being able to tackle the challenges of being an upright citizen.

Being a product of a low-income family and living in a community where education is secondary to making a living, I have become more determined to attend college, earn my degree and having a meaningful career in helping others. Being a Latina has been quite a struggle since I have been imposed with negative stereotypes such as teen pregnancy, lack of education, and “welfare queens”. I want to challenge these perceptions by continuing with my education and making a difference in my community.

Focusing on the things I can control have provided me with the fuel and passion to overcome both the negative stereotypes and change the demographics of my community by attending college and earning a Bachelor’s degree. Furthermore, I plan in pursuing a Graduate degree in Psychology.  With both degrees, I intend to return to my community to assist other youths in programs like Upward Bound and Youth Speak Collective to motivate and educate them in seeking higher education as means to increase their economic and social status.

Therefore, completing my education at University of California, Riverside is extremely important to me.  My desire is to further my educational pursuits beyond the Bachelorette experience, while being exposed to the “real world”. These experiences definitely will mold and shape me in becoming an independent, self-confident individual, who is committed to social justice and service to the community. The world has much to offer me and I am eagerly willing to learn from each encounter I have while attending college.

Thanking my magnificent mentors

Levi Sweeney

I have heard that the key to success is to have many mentors. Whether they are teachers, youth pastors, parents, other relatives, or even older friends, mentors are essential to learning and personal development. I am blessed to have had several mentors this far in life, having learned much from their diligent instruction and their sharing of wisdom and knowledge. Three of them are especially  notable, and it is thanks to them and others like them that I am who I am today. I am grateful for the many people who have supported and guided me over the years, and I look forward to meeting and thanking more such people in the future. 

Of the many mentors I've had in life, I am especially indebted to three in particular. Don Joss is true man of God, devoted to the Lord and to his family. He helped me to get started on serious study of the Bible and Christian apologetics. Jenny Holmes was my high school academic writing teacher, and the mother of one of my closest friends. She taught me everything I know about writing well. Finally, David Boze, a local radio broadcaster and pundit, taught my U.S. History class in high school. It was under his tutelage that my love of history was reignited.

Without the help of my mentors, a sizable portion of my present knowledge would be gone. Take Don Joss for instance. Mr. Joss loves God and children, and every aspect of his life is evidence of his dedication to the Lord and to his family. I first met him when he was my fifth grade Sunday School teacher. Thanks to him, I read my first book on Christian apologetics, a kid's version of The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. This in turn lead to the regular version of The Case for Christ. Ever since then, I've voraciously devoured every such book I can find. Due to his teaching, and that of my parents, I remain a firm student of the scriptures to this day. 

Jenny Holmes taught me the finer points of academic writing, including the general format I am currently using to write this essay. This helped to bring my writing skills to the point where they are now. Thanks to her, my other English teachers over the years, and my own incessant practice, I stand tall as a titan in English. What's more, I believe that I can safely say that Mrs. Holmes is the smartest woman I know. She has homeschooled three of her four kids all through high school, taught English at my co-op, and has served in a leadership position in several church programs. Like Mr. Joss, she is a dedicated parent who helped raise a wonderful family.

David Boze was my U.S. History teacher during my junior year of high school. His classes at my co-op are frequently quite large, being very popular among students and parents alike. He and his colleague Kirby Wilbur have both taught history at my co-op, and are both from a radio broadcasting background. Mr. Boze made history come alive for me again, and he patiently, tirelessly answered my many questions. His amiable enthusiasm for his subject was nothing short of infectious. It was partly because of his instruction that I am now compelled to go into the field of teaching. I intend to study American history. 

I couldn't praise my mentors without mentioning my mom and dad. My mom, like Mrs. Holmes, has homeschooled her children for our entire lives. She taught me how to read and write, took me to church and other events, introduced to me to most of my other mentors, and suffered through every bad day. I love her for that, and I will be forever grateful. 

My dad taught me the value of hard work and responsibility. I've worked with him part time at the family print shop for a little over four years, and I've learned a lot. I've also come to realize that my father's favored pastime of watching World War II documentaries probably influenced my own enthusiasm for history. I now see that in many ways, I'm indebted to my parents more than all of my other mentors put together! 

Because of the many mentors I've had over the years, I am more than prepared for the journey that lies ahead. For all they have done for me, I am exceedingly grateful. But I can't express thanks to my mentors without acknowledging the One who guaranteed it all: The Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, nothing would have been possible. His guiding hand is evident throughout my life, guiding me through life's trials and tribulations. He is the ultimate mentor, the ultimate example, the ultimate leader. Above all else, I thank Him for everything. 

Though I am currently on the road to becoming a history teacher, my plans involve many other things as well. In addition to teaching history, I wish to pursue a writing career, with hopes of becoming a published author and webcomic writer. I've been writing since I was a kid, but I am more determined than ever to make it big. I also wish to make a difference back home, to help make my neighborhood a safe and good place to live. Thanks to my mentors, I've acquired many useful skills necessary to fulfill these dreams. But I hope to meet even more mentors along the way to fulfilling these goals, as I go on with college, jobs, volunteer work, new relationships, and more. 

I am grateful to the many mentors I've had over the years, and I pray that I will not forget them as times goes by. My gratitude for them remains unwavering, and I have no doubt that I will gain new mentors and guides as I continue my journey. Wherever I end up in life, I know that I can only get there thanks to the skills and abilities passed on to me by those who have gone before me. I have no doubt that the hand of God was upon me when I was steered toward Messrs. Joss and Boze and Mrs. Holmes. It was thanks to them, and others like them, that I have succeeded in the past and will succeed in the future.

Living a life with a positive attitude

Jerry Thomas

This is one curveball that can’t simply be hit out of the park and never be seen again. It is a perpetual challenge that every living being is faced with once they twinkle into existence. It is wonderful, unfathomable, difficult, and impossible to solve. Although I have not been able to solve this enigma, through the power of positive thinking, I’ve come up with new ways to come at the curveball I like to call life.

Negativity begets more negativity; what you put out into the universe is what you get. That’s what I was told anyway, if I project a negative image, then I will get exactly that back.  Teachings of a positive, optimistic attitude are things I was taught or learned being a Christian and Buddhist. No matter what life throws at you, turn the other cheek, forgive, and kill your enemies with kindness. I don’t think one can ever conquer life, ever overcome it, but there are ways to enjoy it and make the most of everything. Keeping a positive attitude isn’t always easy when life constantly throws hardships at almost every turn.

It hit me like a freight train, seventh grade, also referred to my first test in life. Moving to Texas, I had no friends, was bullied, my brother ran away, and parents were arguing. Saying I went to a dark place at this is an extreme understatement. I was just considering to give it all up, quit in life, and throw in the towel. I couldn’t see any positive sides to life at that point, I did some irrational things.  It was serendipitous that I met a high school girl, named Tiffany, who was actually planning on becoming a counselor for kids. Her positive words of encouragement and great outlook on life partly saved my life, literally. From then on, I’ve always sworn to help others when they are having problems and look on the Brightside of all my situations. Due to my passion of helping people and positive attitude, I got very involved in volunteer organizations such as: Key Club, Circle K, NHS, Goodwill and many more. Being able to help someone through acts of kindness or even just a smile brings me joy on a whole other level. I love being an active leader in my community and school and spreading the knowledge and happiness that I have learned from others in hopes that they will spread it too.

“I feel good, oh I feel so good, I feel fine, all of the time!” It’s something we used to chant in Key Club to keep our spirits high, enabling us to press on through whatever endeavor we faced. Having a positive attitude though doesn’t and shouldn’t mean that you are optimistically naïve to the world. No matter how much I wish it, there will be times when I don’t feel so good or when I don’t feel fine all of the time. The thing about positive thinking though, is how you utilize it; it isn’t meant as a tool to shield you from the bad things in life, but to come to realization with it and deal with it in an effective manner. My positive outlook on life actually pushed me to grow up and think more rationally. It seems weird, but having a positive attitude to situations really opened my eyes and mind. Everything becomes so much clearer when I’m thinking about how I could improve my situation or how it could be worse and I count myself lucky. Even though I may not always feel good or fine, positive thinking ensures me that I will always return to that state of being good or fine.

Living a life with a positive attitude changes everything around you; cliché, but the world has so much more color and vibrancy to it, life is just enjoyable. Now, of course I’ve had other hardships, that’s life after all, but tackling things with a positive thinking allows me to see new avenues that I wasn’t able to before. Overall, it has just made me a better person, someone people want to be around or look up to, someone I actually like. Being a positive, optimistic man has greatly humbled me and helped me live a healthier live. It’s proven that a smile and laughing do make you healthier and less prone to sickness, so I owe my happiness to positive thinking in life. I apply positive thinking in whatever I engage in, whether it be science, school, life, or games. Anything is possible when I put my mind to it, there’s nothing I can’t achieve. Yes, I will run into bumps and hicks, but I know if I keep my head up that everything will work out. I don’t honestly know where I’d be without the power of positive thought, I believe that my energy is sent out into the universe somewhere and then sent back to me.  I will keep going through life with this philosophy in mind and I will conquer anything that dares to stand in my way. I’m grateful that positive thinking has had a positive impact on my life.

Focusing on things you can control

Alanna Heraghty

Growing up Irish, we are taught to believe that for all the bad luck that comes your way, you’ll get just as much good luck, if not more. I have a lifetime of good luck coming my way. 

My most recent string of bad luck started the beginning of July, when my boyfriend got a job in Parsippany, NJ. His only complaint was the commute. So we packed up and moved to West Orange, NJ to an apartment that was run-down but unique. Sure, the windows were rotten and the whole house was falling apart but it was our little home and I’m very creative when it comes to decorating. A week after we moved in, my boyfriend and I drove my mini cooper up to Connecticut to visit some friends. I slaved away saving up for that car and little road trips like these fill my heart with joy. When we were about 20 minutes away from our destination, we hit some traffic. So we stopped. The girl behind us, preoccupied with her cell phone, did not. 

Thankfully, everyone survived and I received the brunt of the injuries. I couldn’t open a door without excruciating pain in my chest and shoulders, nevermind return to work. I’m the type who likes to stay busy so being relegated to couch potato duty was a form of slow torture. I spent my days listening to insurance hold music and making doctor appointments. 

Our landlord, who has a criminal history though we didn’t know it at the time, started sending harassing texts around this time. He was always a little rough around the edges but we thought it was harmless. We were wrong. About two weeks after the accident, he was drunk and upset and knocked on our door at 12:30am. We called the police once he started yelling. Long story short, we left the apartment that night. When we returned, with a police escort of course, our door had been broken down and he had left nasty notes for us on my dry erase board. This was all extremely overwhelming and emotionally draining on top of the car accident. Not to mention, I have PTSD from a similar abusive incident. 

I found myself sleeping on a friend’s couch. Everyone was safe but I was mentally floating and falling. Between doctor appointments, car insurance calls, police reports, and paperwork, I lost myself. Before we moved, I was thinking of going to school to earn a bachelors. I always wanted one but could never afford to attend school. I couldn’t control how long it took for the insurance paperwork to process. I couldn’t control my lunatic landlord and his actions. I couldn’t control my pain or how upset I felt. But I can write and I can write well. So I started researching schools and applying for scholarships. This very essay is something I can control. I can focus on the larger picture that all this work will get me closer to earning a bachelors. And through that focus, I have regained myself a bit and am finding peace.

Every week I write down goals. I’ve learned that, although I am ambitious, I need to keep my goals bite sized. When something comes up that doesn’t help accomplish my week’s goals, I simply say, “That is not my goal this week.” Of course, some things push ahead. If more paperwork needs filling out or I get a call from the insurance, I take it. But then I breathe and collect myself and get back to the list at hand. With a singular focus, I am able to accomplish full bubbles of tasks instead of just playing at the surface. 

Riding the pride of accomplishment leads to more accomplishment. Crossing off a small task gives me momentum to tackle the next one. I have to be careful to assign tasks that I can control. Sometimes I get big ideas and, in my eagerness, I overwhelm my nerves and mind. I’m still healing, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I had to learn how to be kind to myself and let go what I cannot do. I find it so easy to be kind to others. I must remember to be kind to myself. 

Many people like to recite the serenity prayer during times of struggle. The last few weeks have been an exercise in gaining the “wisdom to know the difference.” I’m starting to see how little humans have control over. I thought that idea would upset or terrify me. I find it extremely liberating. The only thing I can control are my choices. Rather than limiting, I find that my eyes have opened up to the vast amount of choices I have. I have no control of the outcome; that’s the luck. But I have all the choices in the world. As long as I keep making good choices, focusing on what I can control, and then leaving the rest up to the universe, I’ll be great.

My choices

Alanna Heraghty

Growing up Irish, we are taught to believe that for all the bad luck that comes your way, you’ll get just as much good luck, if not more. I have a lifetime of good luck coming my way. 

My most recent string of bad luck started the beginning of July, when my boyfriend got a job in Parsippany, NJ. His only complaint was the commute. So we packed up and moved to West Orange, NJ to an apartment that was run-down but unique. Sure, the windows were rotten and the whole house was falling apart but it was our little home and I’m very creative when it comes to decorating. A week after we moved in, my boyfriend and I drove my mini cooper up to Connecticut to visit some friends. I slaved away saving up for that car and little road trips like these fill my heart with joy. When we were about 20 minutes away from our destination, we hit some traffic. So we stopped. The girl behind us, preoccupied with her cell phone, did not. 

Thankfully, everyone survived and I received the brunt of the injuries. I couldn’t open a door without excruciating pain in my chest and shoulders, nevermind return to work. I’m the type who likes to stay busy so being relegated to couch potato duty was a form of slow torture. I spent my days listening to insurance hold music and making doctor appointments. 

Our landlord, who has a criminal history though we didn’t know it at the time, started sending harassing texts around this time. He was always a little rough around the edges but we thought it was harmless. We were wrong. About two weeks after the accident, he was drunk and upset and knocked on our door at 12:30am. We called the police once he started yelling. Long story short, we left the apartment that night. When we returned, with a police escort of course, our door had been broken down and he had left nasty notes for us on my dry erase board. This was all extremely overwhelming and emotionally draining on top of the car accident. Not to mention, I have PTSD from a similar abusive incident. 

I found myself sleeping on a friend’s couch. Everyone was safe but I was mentally floating and falling. Between doctor appointments, car insurance calls, police reports, and paperwork, I lost myself. Before we moved, I was thinking of going to school to earn a bachelors. I always wanted one but could never afford to attend school. I couldn’t control how long it took for the insurance paperwork to process. I couldn’t control my lunatic landlord and his actions. I couldn’t control my pain or how upset I felt. But I can write and I can write well. So I started researching schools and applying for scholarships. This very essay is something I can control. I can focus on the larger picture that all this work will get me closer to earning a bachelors. And through that focus, I have regained myself a bit and am finding peace.

Every week I write down goals. I’ve learned that, although I am ambitious, I need to keep my goals bite sized. When something comes up that doesn’t help accomplish my week’s goals, I simply say, “That is not my goal this week.” Of course, some things push ahead. If more paperwork needs filling out or I get a call from the insurance, I take it. But then I breathe and collect myself and get back to the list at hand. With a singular focus, I am able to accomplish full bubbles of tasks instead of just playing at the surface. 

Riding the pride of accomplishment leads to more accomplishment. Crossing off a small task gives me momentum to tackle the next one. I have to be careful to assign tasks that I can control. Sometimes I get big ideas and, in my eagerness, I overwhelm my nerves and mind. I’m still healing, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I had to learn how to be kind to myself and let go what I cannot do. I find it so easy to be kind to others. I must remember to be kind to myself. 

Many people like to recite the serenity prayer during times of struggle. The last few weeks have been an exercise in gaining the “wisdom to know the difference.” I’m starting to see how little humans have control over. I thought that idea would upset or terrify me. I find it extremely liberating. The only thing I can control are my choices. Rather than limiting, I find that my eyes have opened up to the vast amount of choices I have. I have no control of the outcome; that’s the luck. But I have all the choices in the world. As long as I keep making good choices, focusing on what I can control, and then leaving the rest up to the universe, I’ll be great.

3 truths and a story

Three Truths and a Story

NOSTALGIA
The particular area in which I lived would have been called the "nicer" part of the slums; however, that statement in and of itself is an oxymoron. Living in such a state, one would think I would need some escape from it all, a refuge, or a haven. But no, I never wanted such a thing. I felt I no reason to escape. This is home. My home. My origin. My origin. My inception. These are the slums.

THE GENTLEMAN
A man, tattered, distraught and painfully worn out by his years would step out from the rusty door that imprisoned him in the night. In doing so, he would find nothing salvageable on the outside. Each morning, he would rise with a smile; however, when he opened the door, the smile would wince and disappear at the site of his destitution. Assenting to this ever-present truth, he would continue, down the one step he built from uneven rocks and feeble sticks to sit on a grey, withered boulder of sorts. He would glare. What seemed like minutes were actually endless hours, not too dissimilar from the warping of time that occurs in hell. He then would stare at the ground, whose mud was always wet because of the narrow space between each mal-established edifice. Picking at each ounce of feces-ridden-mud with his bloodshot eyes, he would search, in some vain hope that perhaps, that day would be the day he would find some base meal in the mud.

THE MADAM
A woman, empty, distraught and anguished by her days spent seeking for food not only for herself, but for her offspring, stood at her shanty's excuse for a threshold. Glaringat the child who sat in a puddle of stagnant grey water, she would occasionally blink as to remind herself where she was, When she finally managed to pull her eyes away from this image that she new to be abject poverty, she re-entered her withered shack and came out holding bread riddled with darkened cultures of mold. Blackened by disappointment, she would then continue and kneel towards the child who, as a reflex, would jerk her head to the left. The mother and the child would continue this back and forth for a few more moments before the child reluctantly assented and bit into the cultures, and chewed and chewed.

THE BABE
A baby, yet to become empty, distraught tattered and anguished by its surroundings, sat in its puddle of stagnant waters plashing around, lifting all types of bacterium and cultures of its own. The colors that came from that puddle made it smile. It seldom cried, and even then, it was of a reasonable cause. Hunger. The child would often try to stand up, for it owed it to its very own instincts to at least try to continue its existence. Of course, it would fall, and try to stand up again, and again and again.

NOSTALGIA PART Il
Often venturing into the worse part of the slums, at age six, all our destitution was equivalent. This area with which I was most familiar was the circle of houses at the end of the dirt road that faced towards each other. I never actually spoke to any of these people. I would just venture, sit, and observe. I knew I had disrupted a flow, but, all I wanted to be was an observer; however, in doing so, I had become an aspect that had conformed into their daily routine and for that, it was no surprise that I was finally included.

THE OBSERVER
The Madam was the first to approach me. I introduced myself and as a custom 1 told her where I lived and her me. After getting the customaries out of the way, 1 learned that the Madam was a funny lady with an equally funny daughter to boot. The Babe was of one year and had developed a certain genial presence around me. It was only a matter of time before the Gentleman came to talk to me as well. At first sight, he would not have seemed the most intelligent of men, but, growing up in such an area, no one was they appeared.

He asked me, "Why do you come here?”

 I replied, "Because I feel more at home here than 1 do in my own home''

“Why is that?”  he continued.

"No reason,” I answered fleetingly. I quickly changed the subject by letting him know that I may get to leave for America in a few years.

"I see. Well I think that the fact that you think this wasteland home says something about you, wouldn't you say?"

 My response was my quizzical face.

He then knelt to the ground, looked me in the eyes and said, "we need you to leave, and enjoy our life, be happy, meet a nice person, continue this world for us.” He paused. “It has become more clear to me each year that I will never leave, neither shall she. I see you with a future, one that I could never dream for myself for it is too damn far from me, but for you, I need you to move on from this life, you are not deserving of this, none of us are, but now that you have an out, you must take it."

The day he spoke to me, that night, I called my own mother on the phone to talk about the day. She had been living in the United States for three years and would often call to see how we were faring. She was not even a bit angered that 1 had been going on my little ventures, but, instead, her voice became firm and true, more so than usual, and she promised me, "I will get you out of this hell hole."

I returned to the Madam, the Gentleman and the Babe after a week. The topic was never brought up again, not for another two years. My visits were consistent once every week, on Saturday twilight. his continued each Saturday until I stopped going for three months. The day before we were to leave, I was twelve at this point, I ran to my favored area to tell my friends about the great news. 1 immediately went to the Gentleman and told him, he smiled so deeply that I felt it absorb into me and convert into a new type of motivation; I would work my hardest for his sake. I then ran to the Madam and told her, she too smiled, not  at me, however, but through me. 1 asked the matter, and she told me, sternly and without emotion that the Babe had died. Tears welled up from the bottom of my eyes and poured over as I tried to console her, but it seemed that my words could not reach her because she was too far gone. Too far for me to reach, and soon, to her, I will be as well.

It was not until I was in this country that I realized it was pneumonia. With the water the Babe played in every day, and the lack of, nourishment, it was almost inevitable. These facts hit me when 1 was in my sixth grade English class. It began as one tear. It rolled down my cheeks and off my face. Then as though the first tear was as a commander, an army of tears followed strongly afterward. I wept and wept endlessly. It was not fair, not one aspect of this entire situation, of their lives, of my own, was fair. Why was 1 here and them there, cursed to cry every night, to scour night and day for one bite of anything that would temporarily hold off the truth that was all too inevitable for them, but not for me. Why? Why? Why!? 1 wept for Honour for that was the Babe's name, I wept for Patricia, for that was the Madam's name, I wept for Ambrose for that was the Gentleman's name. They had names. They all have names. All who lived there, around me, far from me, and even those whom were not mentioned. They all have names. They are not some obscure beings in the back of every UNICEF commercial. They exist.

I wanted to stop it: I wanted the best for them. I wanted Honour, to be a proud healthy 13 year-old girl today. I wanted Patricia to be a proud mother. I wanted Ambrose to be happy. The slums and all the like cannot have it all. They can't even have the least. So today, sit here in this air conditioned edifice called a school to uphold and represent where I come from because this is what I can control. I could not stop what happened to Honour but I can control the work that I put in to construct a future that they would have wanted not only for themselves but for me as well. My personality, my movements, my smiles, my words. These are the people who molded me. They are embedded in my past and reflect my future. They will always represent who 1 am. My home. My origin. My inception. My Uganda.

Honoring the dead

Arena Ali

Frozen with shock, feet nailed to the dirt road and a trembling heart pumping blood  rapidly that fear nearly convulses into tangibility.but even a rush of adrenaline couldn’t help him I can imagine him standing with wide eyes feeling despair and loneliness, just him and his killer. His fear tangible, I envision him whispering a prayer for forgiveness and thanks as life passes through his eyes like a child going through a flipbook. He feels the impact.The first bullet drops him to his knees. He squeezes his eyes shut and whimpers due to the sudden pain. The second bullet pierces through his chest and gracefully enters his heart. The bullets penetrateinfiltrate his body eating away the years of his life within seconds of contact. The killer leaves untouched, stealing theyears from a father, husband, brother and beloved family member.

Four years later, I would fly across the ocean with my parents to visit my uncle’s burial site. I’d stand arms across my chest to feel some warmth. I’d shut my eyes and recollect the memories of his palpable intense passionate anger, his stomach-clenching humor, his charisma and his beautiful heart. I’d shed my grief in tears glancing at a young boy and two teenage girls kneeling in the dirt, eyes shut to hold in their own grief squeezing each others hands with their eyes shut, tear stained, whispering to their dad about their day, their stresses, and their joys. They’d tell him they missed him. The boy would ask if he met God and when he was coming homeback. Their mother would look away to retain her strength. The oldest daughter would join me and hold my hand.; she’d say, “Sometimes, I can’t help but feel like a charity case. that you probably wouldn’t even care to come here if it wasn’t for my dad., that Iif you had the choice you’d be elsewhere. I know he was like your dad, but he was my dad. He was our everything.” I would argue because I’d glance over to my dad and recall the ridiculous argument about wanting to go on vacation with friends instead.words would only add to the guilt from the ridiculous argument about wanting to go on a vacation with my friends instead. Dumbfounded by her honesty, I’d ask her how her life was going and she’d give me a sad smile, the kind that never reached her eyes, and respond, “It gets harder everyday. We have a whole family to support us, but sometimes you can’t help but feel alone. You know I failed and will be repeating tenth grade I failed tenth grade because sometimes I can’t bare bear it. All my friends will be juniors, so now I’m alone in school too. It’s embarrassing. I feel like my future is at a loss, like the structure of my life lies here in the ground.” She would sigh and I would embrace her wishing to take her distressagony away. I’d take them back home with us if it were at my command. I’d always know that their battles would be rougher than mine, sorrow much richer than mine, and burden much heavier than mine.

The endless arguments with my parents, the time thrown away, the ingratitude towards my opportunities all comes into prospect. The setting of my life’s Cannon finally refocuses. Meeting my family half way across the world, a place with different beliefs, where the father of the family is most prominent, where the troubles heighten if this source of structure is snatched away, enriches me with gratitude for the blessing of opportunities, family, and life I live. Only to imagine that if I was born in the country my cousin lives in, it could have been my parents. Just the thought fills my heart with gratitude and inspires me to work harder to so that someday I can help them, support them, and give them with the chance to live the life I do.

I have witnessed that life and death are out of our control, therefore instead of pondering on the inevitable we should focus on the tangible aspects of life. Changing this mentality will not make death seem petty but it is important to keep the good memories alive. It is vital to keep in mind the positive aspects of their life. I like to believe my Uncle made the world a better place. Even though he was a small town shop owner, he impacted many lives unknowingly; he surely changed my life. My Uncle accomplished many great things in his life; I chose to remember all those instead of the way his life terribly ended. He taught me to be thankful for the privileged life I lead. I am appreciative for all the things I have been provided in my life. For example, I am so grateful to be living in the United States of America. This is a freedom I took for granted for most of my life. My parents told me stories of their lives and how they grew up in run down sheds in the ghetto of India. I was never fully able to understand the efforts, hardships, and sacrifices they encountered to make it to America. I never took into account they left their homes and entered an unknown country with no help or support. I now comprehend the privilege I had of being born in such a country. I did not face any adversities in my life all thanks to my parents. They took all the difficulties onto themselves to provide me with the opportunity at a better future. Having my relatives experience such a heart wrenching tragedy has molded me into an appreciative human being. I am thankful to be given the opportunity to live in a better environment, have access to top education, and live in the land of opportunity, freedom, and diversity. I want to honor my Uncle’s life and memory by helping underprovided individuals and children suffering in third world countries. Everyone deserves the opportunity to live better and experience the simple luxuries of life.

My adventure called life - focusing on things you can control

Kate Suazo

We humans as are born into a world that we ourselves cannot change, control, or modify, instead we learn, grow, and do what we can to make this world better. In my own life I have faced trials and tribulations that created a mind full of anxiety and worry. Why can’t I change the world, I would ask myself, why can’t I change the past? For a long time it felt like nothing could be changed, that I would need to accept the world as it was and never ask for more. I believed in my heart that one woman could never make a difference, and up until my Nana died that is how I lived my life.
I have lost a lot of people in my 20 years on this beautiful planet. 8 close family members and friends to be exact. To say that I am familiar with loss would be an understatement. I was an angry child and my mental illness grew inside of me like a weed. I hated loving people out of fear of losing them. I pushed people away, I grew distant. I began to believe that this was the way life was, this was the way MY life was. Letting people love me was something I began to give up on. Why would I let others love me and I love them if it just ended in pain and loneliness. I was suicidal and disappointed in the world. Then the worst thing happened, my Nana died.
My Nana was my best friend. She raised me for a few years of my life due to financial struggles, she taught me how to sing and dance, she made the best food in the world, and she dedicated her life to helping others. My Nana was my best friend. She had been sick for quite some time and we had all said our goodbyes. I was sitting in math class when I felt a piece of my soul rip out of my chest, I knew she was gone. My parents picked me up from school that day and I was silent as they confirmed her passing. My best friend, my motivation, my light was gone.
For about a week afterwards I lived in a fog. My world had been torn apart and my depression was taking over. I had worked so hard to not let my anxiety and depression rule my life but at this point I didn’t care. My Dad told me about a “Life Ceremony” we were going to have for her and I was indifferent. I didn’t want to be surrounded by people crying and suffering because nothing could change the way any of us felt. We had no control over the pain, at least that’s what I thought then.
We walked into the “Life Ceremony” and sat down at a table. People kept coming over and apologizing for something they had no control over, it made me angry. I didn’t know most of the people saying sorry and I couldn’t sit there and continue to say “Thank you”. I walked away to go cool off. As I was pouring my lemonade an old man walked up to me and said, “You must be Carols Granddaughter.” I gave him a look as if to say, “Yeah, so?” He looked me deep in the eyes and said, “Do you know what kind of woman your Nana was?” We talked for the next hour about all the things she had done to help people around her. Her volunteer work at the food bank, the time she made meals for a month for the neighbors who just lost their jobs, the time she literally took the coat off her back for a small child who didn’t have one, my Nana was a hero.
I knew all of these things, I had heard all of these stories, but listening to this man talk about my Nana, it was like she was with us in the room. I felt my soul come back and I felt the smile on my face which had been a miss of quite some time. I felt the warmth of her love wrap me in a safety blanket. This woman, my Nana, who had lived through rough times of her own, loved and gave and shared her kindness with everyone. I began to realize something, my Nana continued living on through the light she shared with the world and with that light she made a difference.
I began to work out of my depression. I started doing theater to make people laugh. I began traveling so I could learn about what other people live like. I focused on college and my education. I began to love again as my Nana loved me. It was scary and I was nervous to begin opening myself up, but it was a release. I now work with a non-profit organization helping underprivileged youth prepare for college, I lead workshops on celebrating our differences, I teach groups of people about loving themselves for who they are, and I share my light as often as I can.
You see, every time I do something good, every time I share a smile or kind word, every time I step out of my comfort zone to help someone, those 8 people live on through me. I miss my Nana every day and I still get sad from time to time, but I know that by letting myself love again, I am doing more good than I ever have. Losing so many loved ones, dealing with the pain, and learning from my heartbreak as helped me learn how to celebrate everyone. I love deeply, I never let go, and I work hard every day to make myself better for those who love me. I know that I cannot change the cycle of death, and I know I cannot bring back my loved ones, but by sharing my light and by being kind, I can make this world a better place one smile at a time.

Focusing on what you can control

Sylvia Richardson
College: North Carolina Central University

My name is Sylvia Richardson and I just completed my freshman year in the Honors Program at North Carolina Central University, with a double major in accounting and hospitality/tourism. Following my freshman year, I currently have a 3.9 GPA. My career goal is to obtain a management position in the finance department of a major hotel chain or international firm within the tourism industry.
          I have recently made a giant leap towards focusing on things that I can control by co-authoring a book with my mother. The book is titled, You Are Wonderfully Made: 12 Life-Changing Principles for Teen Girls to Embrace. This book, which will be released in late September of this year, can be used as a tool for others to also focus on the things they can control.
          As a result of my success in high school, college, church and community, other parents and teenagers have often asked me about the secret of my success. My response has always been that my success is not a secret but that, with the assistance of my parents, I have developed principles that I try to live by on a regular basis. The principles are not complex; in fact, they are simple. Perhaps they are so simple that many teenagers overlook them entirely or discount their importance.
          My mother and I decided to reflect on my upbringing, especially during my teen years, and develop twelve of the principles in detail, so we could share them with other teenage girls. Black teen girls, in particular, experience common challenges and there are few resources which directly address them.
           The teen years are challenging ones in an individual’s development, particularly for girls. Yet black teen girls often experience even greater challenges because of the negative messages, labels and images perpetuated by media, music videos, and popular culture.
             Rather than boost the confidence of black teen girls, these negative messages can adversely affect their self-esteem and their concepts of self-worth. Low self-esteem can ultimately lead them to internalize these negative labels and make a series of bad choices. By embracing these labels, negative outcomes become a self-fulfilling prophecy for far too many black teen girls. But, black teen girls have the power to reject these negative labels and embrace positive ones.
             You Are Wonderfully Made: 12 Life-Changing Principles For Teen Girls To Embrace empowers black teen girls with the tools they need to successfully navigate their teen years and avoid the pitfalls that can derail their futures. The book’s title is based loosely on the Biblical scripture in Psalms 139:14, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
          However, the twelve universal principles in the book are not exclusive to those of the Christian faith. They can be adopted by any teen girl, regardless of her family background, economic status or educational achievement level.
The first principle explored in the book – and the most important – revolves around teenage girls appreciating their uniqueness and knowing their worth. One of the easiest things for us to control as individuals is our sense of self, knowing and appreciating who we are.
           There are no two people in the world who are alike. Each person is a one-of-a-kind individual, unique in every way, and there is no other human being on Earth, in the past, present or future, who has been, is or will be exactly like another.
            Teenagers have a tendency to want to blend in, to be like other teenagers, and to not stand out. It is often easier to go along with the trend set by the so-called “popular” or well-liked girls than to potentially be targeted for being different.
            But to get through the teen years successfully, girls will need to appreciate their uniqueness and be comfortable with the fact that they are different from any other teenager on Earth. They should celebrate themselves as one-of-a-kind teenagers who have intrinsic value that no one else can duplicate.
            Seeking validation from others not only lowers one’s self-esteem, but it also gives others power over them – over their thoughts, their opinions and their ideas about themselves. It also puts teenagers in a position where they do not feel worthy or know their worth, unless someone else validates it. Why give others that sort of power over their lives?
            When teenagers embrace their uniqueness, their confidence is bolstered. Once they accept the reality that they are exclusively unique, wonderfully made, they will begin to approach others with boldness and courage.
            Working on this book project with my mother was a meaningful experience. It helped me to improve my writing skills, and learn more about conducting research regarding topics of importance to me. It also expanded my knowledge about book covers and how essential they are in making a book attractive to potential readers. Finally, it allowed me to share my thoughts with other teens regarding focusing on things they can control.

The power of positive thinking

Alicia Morales

On September 2, 2010, I lost one of the most important human beings in my life. This human being was my uncle. He was a brother to eight women, a father of two children, and an uncle to me and 10 of my cousins, but it felt as if he were my second father. He helped raise each and every one of us. He was extremely affectionate, even on his bad days, and always managed to keep a smile on my face. Ever since I began attending school in kindergarten, my uncle would tell my mother that I was a gifted child. As I grew older, his expectations of my education continued to escalate. I have always excelled in a school setting, and because he believed in me, I continued to be confident and always aimed for success. His encouraging words motivated me not only academically, but with life in general.  He helped me understand that one’s dream can be limitless, which is something I still highly value.  Growing up, I spent weekends with him listening to his dreams for my future education. He always told me I had an infinite amount of potential to do great things in this world. When I turned 11 years old, he accomplished his goal of opening up his own restaurant, and even though he suffered economically, which forced him to shut down the business, he managed to open up a new one soon after. He began to tell me about his long term goal of expanding his restaurant into a chain of food services, and hoped to have me in charge of administrating it someday.
        Unfortunately, his life, hopes, and dreams were taken away by another human being. Sorrow and denial filled the lives of my family. I was unable to concentrate on anything that was unrelated to my uncle's murder and my family's pain. When my relatives left to Mexico to hold his funeral, I stayed in Chicago because my mother advised me to do so. She believed my pain would be even greater if I attended, and it would do me no good. I gave my final goodbye to my beloved uncle here in Chicago right during the same time the summer season gave its own goodbye to us all. My eighth grade year began a couple days later, and my mind was nowhere near focused. All I was sure of was that I wanted to see my uncle again, and I wanted to attend his funeral with the rest of my family. My disconnection from the world quickly brought consequences. My academic work began to roll downhill. I was too distracted by the tragedy that I forgot my life was moving on. My goals began to fade and I had no motivation whatsoever. I became depressed and it seemed to me as if every problem in my life had no solution. I did not complete my daily tasks, both at school and at home. Instead of finishing them, I would feel anxious and scared of what the consequences of ignoring my responsibilities would be.
        After seeking for help from my family, friends, and mentors, I finally came back to my senses and realized that the last thing my uncle would want would be for me to ignore my academic responsibilities. I decided to try my hardest to better myself. To this day, I am still trying to excel not only in school, but in every aspect of my life. I know I can succeed, and I want to make my uncle proud. He has always been my motivation for academic success, but after he passed away I realized that no matter how big a problem is, I can always get past it. Things will always get better. This new mindset has helped me grow as person, and I am now a more motivated and optimistic individual. I am excited for my future endeavors rather than fearing them. One day after I graduate college, I will become a successful social worker, specialized in children’s welfare and will hopefully work with foster children. My goal is to help as many children as I possibly can, and even though this career choice can bring many heartaches, I am positive it will be worth it. With the power of positive thinking, I became an optimist: a person who searches for the best in any given situation. Regardless of the hardships in life, I am responsible for my own happiness. The universe may send negativity my way, but I should not feel defeated. There are certain factors in life which one cannot control, often leaving one frustrated, powerless, and even depressed, but one must stay positive. These hardships are not permanent, they are only temporary. Happiness will be in abundance in the near future, but only if one values the Power of Positive Thinking!

Emphasize what you can control

 Dylan Lizarraga

When I have brought up the subjects of Boy Scouts around others, I am received with a either admiration from those who have participated in it as well or antipathy for many acts of social injustice that BSA has endorsed through the years. I cannot fully agree nor disagree with any of their beliefs; all of which (in my eyes) are equally justifiable. My experiences in scouting are my own and have come with their own levels of hardship and success. I joined at the age of twelve and have been are part of my troop ever since. The memorable occasions for me, and for many other scouts, were summer camp trips. For an entire week, my troop and I would stay at a camp, isolated in nature, bombarded with weird songs, goofy skits, merit badge classes on any matter of skill, and more exercise than I thought a twelve year old could handle. Camp is truly a strange place to describe in full detail, but it’s a world away from where I lived. Each summer camp was either spent at a new camp or one we hadn’t been in several years, as to not make things stale. Of those, my favorite had always been Camp Cherry Valley. Located on Catalina Island, Cherry Cove is approximately 23 miles from San Pedro Harbor and about 1.5 miles from the isthmus. Although it boasts its aquatic activities, I always had the greatest appreciation for the incredibly friendly counselors. I have come to learn about myself while at this camp, however none more so than the first week I spent there.
                Every BSA camp has the rule that if one wishes to participate in any waterfront activities, that person must demonstrate their swimming ability by passing a “swim check”. I remember my first swim check and every vivid detail. It began even before I reached the beach. The troop had been assigned a swim check time that was right after breakfast that Monday morning. The mess hall/parade grounds has a trail that lead directly to the waterfront. Placed at different stations along the trail were members of staff that would explain the rules as well as first aid procedures that could occur at the beach. I distinctly remember how excited I was to go into ocean and eventually take out kayaks. Each station moved us closer to the beach until, eventually, we stood on the dock. The morning clouds were burned away by the sun. The ocean was a clear blue with a tint of green. And some funky looking orange fish swam about three feet from the edge of the dock. All set to go, I listened to the lifeguard as she broke down the swim check. From the dock, we had to jump in, feet first, and swim, between the dock and the ropes in the distance, four lengths. Ten of us lined along the edge of the dock and waited for the lifeguard to count us down. “3” I looked left and right towards the other boys. “2” I looked down at my feet to push my toes over the edge. “1” I looked down at the water beneath me. “GO!” I froze.
                The shaking of the dock made me take a step back to catch myself from falling over. I heard a lifeguard say, “Jump”, but I stood there and shook my head. At the time I could fully comprehend the reason why I resisted jumping in. The ocean water grew darker the deeper I looked. The abyss was now a real concept in my mind. It was the unknown; the monster in the closet I could disprove time and time again but I could feel it there every night. It was creature that drooled under my bed waiting for me to fall asleep. It was fear; the purest I may have ever felt it. I understood the reality of the situation. I didn’t believe in or even imagine for a moment some imaginary monster or fictitious Hollywood shark. I had already learned how to swim. Everyone else, swimming in water was enough proof that everything should be fine. Regardless, another part of my brain couldn’t muster the strength to take this leap of faith. It told me something was going happen; something I couldn’t expect or prepare for. I don’t know how long I stood there before the one of the lifeguards snapped me out of my trance. He asked me my name and wondered why I didn’t want to jump in. I told him I was scared of the water so he asked me what I saw that scared me. I told him I didn’t see anything and that’s what scared me. He wanted to know if I thought there were sea monsters, but I told I didn’t think there were any. We stood there and talked for a while. I tried few times to jump, but to no avail. Most of the boys in my troop had already finished their swim check and were on the beach. The lifeguard stayed with me, trying to convince me to swim. By the third group of swimmers to pass through, he finally convinced me with his words. I know that I can swim, I know I’ve swum in a pool deeper than the water in front of me, and I know that no one is going to get hurt. I also know that anything could happen. The only thing keeping me from a week of fun and adventure was my inhibitions. Everything came back to me and my own head. I have control over what I do. Sure, things can happen beyond my control, but I can find a way to work through it instead of giving up before I have a go. I am the only one in charge of the actions I take and the thoughts I let take control. After taking the plunge, I held firm to that believe. One’s locus of control needs to stay within oneself.
                I went back to Cherry Valley two during separate summers. The summer after I turned 18, I even decided to work there as counselor. On my first summer I worked with the waterfront staff as a lifeguard and merit badge teacher. One Tuesday afternoon, I had a little boy on the dock with me who didn’t take his swim check the day before. He mustered the courage to come back during Free Time and, just like me, his courage drained while standing at the edge of the dock. I spent the majority of those three hours working with him, reminding him about all the cool things he wanted to do once he passed his swim check. I had jumped in the water to show him the water was fine and even swam alongside him when he finally jumped in. From then on, that moment has stood as a highlight of my experiences. If I didn’t believe in the power of my own mind and body, I would never have discovered my own capabilities. Never would I assume that I made the most dramatic impact on another boy’s life, although I so believe that I helped any number of scouts achieve a goal they wished to reach and opened a new door of possibility. Every time I ran a swim check, I watched numerous scouts from different walks of life take the same test week after week. Some of them have never done a swim, some have never swam outside a pool, and some have never even seen the ocean. Teaching others to emphasize what they can control has held a great deal of meaning to me. In the end, I’m no longer the one taking their swim check for the first time, nor am I spending my first full week away from home. I spend my days giving kids the opportunity to explore a new world and write their own story.

Focusing on things you can control

Amanda Christenhusz
Truckee Meadows Community College

“I feel infinite. It's moments like this that I live for, moments I can find humor in the dire straights, to pick myself back up and realize that I don't have control over anything but myself. I am my own god. Whether other people laugh with me or not, it is my enjoyment that I am allowed to have, and I don't need anyone else's approval for that. And the more I realize that, the more likable I seem to become to my friends, because I'm no longer seeking their approval and being disappointed when they don't approve. I am myself, and people seem to accept that now more than ever before. I am still learning. I am not perfect. I make mistakes. I slip up. I hurt people. I still have a long way to go before I can say that I am okay, but I know I will get there, because I believe in myself and what I can do.”
            These are the words I told the Facebook universe just two weeks ago. Five years ago, I was unrecognizable as the person I am today, not in physical features (because let’s face it, I’m still every bit as beautiful as I was back then), but in my mentality, in my approach to life and how I live it. Five years ago, I was a person who felt the need to control every last detail of my life, including the people in it.
            I lost a lot of friends to my need to control everything. I always had to prove my point, I always needed people to do the things I wanted them to do, and if they didn’t do exactly as I expected of them, well, I acted like a five-year-old. I’m not proud of the person I used to be, but I’m certainly proud of the person I am today, the person who’s learned how to let go and not feel the need to control everything.
            See, I have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). A lot of people ask me what BPD is, and my shortest explanation would be ‘fear of abandonment’. Fear of abandonment can come in the most unexpected shapes and sizes, including (but not limited to): someone walking away from a fight, someone snapping at me for something little, a friend canceling plans for the afternoon, and even someone disagreeing with me on something! Yes, I acted like a child anytime anyone disagreed with me, because I was afraid that if they didn’t see it my way, they would “abandon” me.
            When I was nineteen, I married a guy who was completely wrong for me. I spent my life working a thankless job that barely paid the bills while wasting the rest of it sitting on the computer playing meaningless games, frying my brain on tons of television, and doing absolutely nothing productive. Oh, and I became an animal hoarder, trying to fill the emptiness I felt in my heart with tons of little furries to cuddle and love. I didn’t listen to anyone about how deplorable my home was or how I was wasting my life on the computer. In fact, I got quite combative anytime anyone tried to give me better direction in my life, because I felt like I had control over my life–after all, I was the one that had made all those decisions. In retrospect, in trying to have control over everything, I really had no control over myself.
            When my husband finally left me (can’t say it was soon enough), it was a huge blow at first. I couldn’t control him anymore and keep him there, no matter how hard I tried.
For three days and three nights, I cried my eyes out and begged him to stay. I was angry with him, because he was supposed to love me. Didn’t he love me? Then I did the math. I realized that I could pay all of my own bills, and suddenly, I didn’t need him. Suddenly, I was completely over him. How could I be completely over him if I had been in love with him? I’ll tell you why, because I was in love with the idea of him, and that’s when I came to terms with the fact that I couldn’t just be with someone because I felt like I needed someone and vice versa, I had to be with someone because I wanted to be with them and they wanted to be with me. It was the first experience, among many, that taught me a very valuable lesson in life: I can’t control my love life.
            That was only one component of my life at the time, however. Another big component was the animals. I had way too many, so many that many of them were dying in my care because I couldn’t actually care for them. My house was absolutely disgusting, with ferrets pooping in every corner, cats peeing down heater vents, maggots growing in my sink, and so cluttered that it was all I could do to walk from one end to the other and sit in one spot. I was neglectful to the point where animals were dying in their cages left and right. It broke my heart.
            One day, an old friend from middle school came to visit me on her way through town, and since I was working when she arrived, I had to give her the keys to my house. When I got home, she and her boyfriend were cleaning. They gave me a big earful about how deplorable my home was. I was mortified. I realized that I couldn’t control the pain in my heart by trying to fill the emptiness there with animals that I couldn’t take care of. It took some time, but I got myself down to just the cats and dogs and began to really work on keeping a cleaner house.
            I was an angry person back then, too. My animals feared me, because when they didn’t listen–when I couldn’t control them, I got aggressive. My dogs saw the worst of it, especially Amaya, who was often in her own little world and couldn’t be bothered to listen. My anger only made her want to listen less, which only made me even angrier! I became abusive. One day, after beating Amaya because she wouldn’t come to me (I wonder why?), I looked down into her eyes, eyes that showed pain and distrust and confusion. It broke my heart. It wasn’t her fault that she wouldn’t listen to me. I had done my research on Siberian huskies before getting them, they have selective hearing, and it’s not like I’d made her want to listen to me with how angry I was being. It took a long time, but I slowly worked with her, worked on controlling my anger, and built up my patience levels.
            The more I learned to let go of the things I couldn’t control and shouldn’t be trying to control, the more I began to discover myself, and the more I discovered myself, the more I realized that I couldn’t control everything in my life. That the only thing I really can control is my own attitude and my own actions. People (and animals) are going to be who they are and do what they do, and I don’t need everyone to like or love me, I just need to love myself. I still have a long way to go, but I am doing better each and every day, and I feel like I’ve lived more in the past five years than I did in the twenty-three years before that.
            I have always loved helping people, and in the last few years, I’ve discovered a deep passion for psychology. Since I couldn’t find a better way to help people while still being myself if I tried, I am looking forward to going back to school to become a Psychologist in the future and putting all of my effort towards that future and not one that someone else sees for me. I may not be perfect, and I never expect to be, but one day I will be exactly where I want to be, because I realize now who I am and what I want to do with my life.

Focusing on things you can control

Allison Bruner

For a lot of people, obsessing over things out of their control can overrun their life and turn daily activities into drama-filled escapades. Stress can take an emotional and physical toll on people that is often overlooked, but can have a profound impact. That is what happened to me during my freshman year of college. With looming student debt, overloading in units, a demanding on-campus job and leadership positions and endless group projects, trying to navigate a new school with new friend groups became a daunting task. Over the course of the first quarter, I had turned into a stress-filled lunatic. My boyfriend felt the brunt of it, but he was the reason I decided I needed to turn my attitude around.
            When fights about my anxieties were happening four and five times a week, he finally told me after a tearful—on my part—argument that I had changed since the start of school. In that instant I had a moment of clarity, realizing that it was not fair to him nor to myself that I was spending every waking second worrying about things that I had no control over: I did have daunting loans, but also a plan to pay it back and incredible opportunities. I was overloading in units, but it was nothing compared to the course load I shouldered in high school with ease. My job and leadership roles on campus required substantial amounts of time, but I had a fantastic boss and peers and invaluable experience. And while one is generally found between a rock and a hard place to find an upside to group projects, I had to learn to open my eyes to see that I was in a place in my life where I was being presented with incredible, once in a lifetime opportunities. I spent many nights tossing and turning, mind running a million miles an hour and by the time the dawn broke I had no energy left for my daily life.
            The next day, I sat down and made a list of things that I could change and could productively channel my energy into. Number one on that list was my health; in the following months, exercise not only became an outlet for my stress, but I also focused more on eating healthy foods. This led to renewed health and redoubled amounts of energy, but I also found that I was sleeping easier at night and more relaxed during the day. The second item on my list was my relationship that I had been poorly neglecting. Having already been together for over a year before starting college, it became easy to take my boyfriend for granted; I had become needy in our relationship and it was clearly taking its toll on both of us. I made a conscious effort to be more appreciative of the little things and the time that we spent together, and though the benefits of these changes were not as instant as my health kick, the long term effects led to a stronger, more stable relationship.
            The third thing I chose to focus my energy on were my classes. It was easy to see the positive correlation between time and energy spent and my success in the classes. Buckling down and putting two hundred and ten percent into my courses was a difficult adjustment at first, but after seeing my grades on the first round of midterms following my new routines it was easy to follow through. This tactic additionally improved my experiences with group projects; I learned that when I stepped up and delegated work, people were willing to do their part ninety percent of the time. I also found that being actively engaged at work created a more productive environment for myself so it was easier to transition back into normal life after my shift ended.
            Rather than concentrating on the long term ideas I had about my future, I learned to instead plan out attainable, concrete and short term goals: I was worried about getting a good GPA so that my resume stood out to potential employers and I could negotiate a competitive salary, but focused my energy on doing my homework and studying hard for tests to get a good grade in each individual class that would lead to that elusive, intangible GPA. By focusing on things I could control, I took control back over my life. I became more energized, more confident, and more capable in the tasks I approached. Simple steps can have an incredibly profound impact on the overall quality of life that a person has; the most important aspect of that though is that those steps are attainable for everyone. Overcoming my anxieties about what the future holds is an ongoing adjustment, but by far one of the most worthwhile achievements I’ve worked towards in my life.

The power of positive thinking

John Bavol
California State University-San Marcos

“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible”.

        - Winston Churchill
 I am not going to get into the harsh details of my childhood and upbringing. I don’t want to focus on the negative, but show the power of being a positive thinker. And before I get into my story, I would like to encourage anyone who reads this to do the same in their own lives. Don’t focus on the negative. When it rears its ugly little head, focus on ways to alter it into something positive. Easier said than done, I know, but hopefully my story can give some insight on how it can be done.

                So without further ado, let me start by saying childhood was rough. Now let us skip ahead to the part where my eldest sister felt the need to help my father out by taking his rebellious son off his hands for the summer while likewise helping me by getting me away from the people I surrounded myself with. She proposed I come live with her and learn to surf. I had always loved the beach and immediately agreed. Along with the offer came specific guidelines I would have to follow, and should I fail to abide, I would be sent back to the city where no good could happen.

                The guidelines stated: I must enroll in summer school and achieve no lower than a letter grade of “A” on every assignment. Any lower of a letter grade would result in no surfing. I must stay out of trouble. The result of being brought home by the authorities, being suspended from school, being caught shoplifting, doing drugs, or drinking would result in being sent back to live with my father. My sister and her husband were a no nonsense couple and were not about to let me get away with the shenanigans I was used to getting away with.

                As the summer began to come to an end, my brother-in-law felt impressed that the summer worked out. I had made up two of my failed classes and managed to stay out of trouble the entire summer. Having been an adopted child, my brother-in-law saw an opportunity to do the same good for me as his adoptive parents had done for him. He and my sister sat me down after an afternoon of surfing and made me a second offer. Their offer was much like the first but involved coming to live with them permanently. The guidelines were also much the same, the only difference being I would have to get a job as well as make up every failed class while simultaneously keeping up with all my regular classes.

                After much thought and my father’s blessing, I accepted. Shortly after moving in my belongings, my sister took me with her to the high school I would be attending. We had set a meeting with the school counselor to go over my admittance and to form a game plan on how to make up nearly an entire year’s worth of classes. The counselor looked over my transcript and chuckled. Immediately having given up on me, she suggested we consider a continuation school. Suddenly I felt like this had been a waste of time. My sister, convinced that a continuation school would put me right back with the crowd she was trying to get me away from, pleaded for the counselor to give me a chance. But all the counselor would say was that it was impossible for me to make up all the classes and that it would affect the school’s standing. An hour went by and finally the counselor folded. She reiterated that she did not believe I could do it, and that I would be on probation throughout my stay there. Any class failed, any nonsense, and I would be out.

                Throughout my junior and senior years of high school, I managed to maintain a job at the local grocery store across the street from the school, make up every class failed with a letter grade no lower than a “B”, and maintain a letter grade of no lower than a “B” in every other class. Oh, and I also graduated on time, the class year I was meant to graduate with. It always seemed odd to me that I was able to do what the school counselor deemed impossible, but there were three things that ultimately got me through it. Number one was the support and stability of my sister and brother-in-law. Number two was the impulse to prove my counselor wrong. And number three was simply surfing.

                I understand this story skipped through many of the details for which make a story interesting, but the point is I took the good and the bad into a positive form of thinking so that I could do something not thought to be possible. I took the support of my family and used it to fuel my positive goal. I used surfing to give me a clearer aspect on life. I didn’t get into that much but surfing actually gives you a sense of clarity. Through it you learn patience and you are given a chance to reflect out in the water. I also took the negative response from my counselor to urge myself forward because I did not want to let her win. All in all, positive thinking makes it possible to achieve heights you never thought possible.

Having an attitude of gratitude

Darryan Robers
Tennessee State University

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” 
~Buddha

This quote demonstrates the highest level of an attitude of gratitude.  As an incoming junior at Tennessee State University, I have chosen to make every opportunity to be a learning experience.  This will prevent any situation from being a hindrance.  I have had some academic as well as extracurricular events that ended up less than favorably.  I chose to reevaluate the given situation and if there was an outside assessment given, to truly seek to understand how others may have perceived my intentions.  This affords me an opportunity to make necessary changes. 

I am then able to grow as opposed to missing out on broadening my exposure to new things as well as learning a better way to accomplish my goals.  I choose not to take anything for granted.  For me to be as healthy as I am and yet there are students who for all purposes, are healthy but ambulate by a wheelchair acknowledge that my life can change in an instant.  The most important task is to remember that anything that allows for a second chance can be yours.  

This year’s task is for me to make choices that will propel me into my future.  I am majoring in Psychology but I desire to obtain a Graduate Degree and Board Certification in Behavior Analysis.  If awarded this scholarship, it will help to immediately offset accrual of educational loans and expenses that will better prepare me to be able to further my education.  I am grateful for the financial support and assistance granted that has afforded me the opportunity to reach this level in my collegiate career but I realize I will have to receive additional education to even begin my career.  

I have chosen a career as a Behavior Analyst.  I chose this career due to my high school volunteer assignment as a Peer Facilitator.  I worked with peers who had a diagnosis of Autism and or other Developmental Disabilities by demonstrating appropriate social skills in everyday situations.  It was apparent to me as a child of 6 other siblings that perhaps I too take menial tasks such as going to the grocery store for granted.  I worked with other “typical developing” peers whose siblings and friends had these diagnosis’s. It became apparent that we never know how a person feels unless you have truly walked in their shoes.   The embarrassment from a child demonstrating inappropriate or unusual body movements because maybe they cannot express verbally that “I am nervous” or “I need a break”.  Working with these peers be it with or without a known disability, it was apparent that there is so much more awareness needed.   

I thought it very interesting to observe the Behavior Analyst help these individuals demonstrate more appropriate social interactions by usually giving them a reason to do so.  This began to shape my thinking to choose to be grateful.  If for no other reason than I want to be.  

Life is constantly changing.  However, my personal goal in life is to always learn in order to be positioned to grow while maintaining a content and grateful attitude.   This means to embrace knowledge while seeking to understand each life cycle as not a happen chance but opportunity.  This understanding I hope will be a key asset in my leadership skills as well as success.   

Daily I practice an attitude of gratitude through my academic matriculation as well as in my civil and social living.  I hope to receive this scholar ship from Achieve Today.  I look forward to being in a position to give back to other young ladies one day to help them to accomplish their goals.  I will encourage each young lady and or applicant to implement strong leadership principles that demonstrate innovative applied learning to every aspect of their lives.  They too must be able to establish a strong network of support and professional skillset from others who have accomplished what they hope to one day succeed at.  Balance school, work life responsibility by maintaining the attitude of gratitude.  This means as much as we can, we will make wise choices.  My mother frequently tells me that it is imperative to allow for an exit plan because things don’t always go as we plan and once we acknowledge our knowledge; do over or differently.  But in all things give thanks.  Again, I so agree with Buddha‘s view of my Attitude of Gratitude because nothing just happens.   Zig Ziegler sums it up best for me “Of all the "attitudes" we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing. Adopt that attitude and I really will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!”

Having an attitude of gratitude

Chloe Myers
University of Central Florida

I am my mother’s last and, technically, fourth child, but two of them died before me; I sometimes wonder if that helps that my sister Kiara and I are close. I am a stubborn, inquisitive, passionate, ethereal human wrapped around the soul of a woman. I am the child that parents
want their kids to be around, because ever since I was in elementary school, I have gotten numerous academic praises and trophies. I was supposed to have been a stillborn, though, and my story wasn’t supposed to be announced, 21 years ago. We are always told to be grateful for every moment that we have, on this epicenter of a planet that we abide in, called Earth. We thank God whenever something good happens, but never seem to praise Him when we are going through our next storm as well. Think about what I have to say, because I am living proof that God is real and that I am a miracle. Breathing, is a luxury. It maps out the plan for the body, and eases us into life. It coaxes us into thinking that everything is going to be okay. It is the memory I have of being hooked up to a machine, fighting for breath, with my mother sobbing in the next room. It is my grandmother
reaching her hand out to me and holding on, praying all day and night for my health, even to this day. It is a compass, navigating to our lungs and protruding from our ribcages, giving us a chance to say our messages. A simple ‘hello’ is someone else’s gratitude, because maybe
yesterday they had been in a coma. It is a vital thing needed for the epitome of survival, strength, and dedication. My name is Chloe Myers, and I was born on the day before a leap year, February 28th, 1994. I came into the world resembling how a kid usually looks jumping into a pool: feet first, and ready for action. I weighed one pound, and twelve ounces; since I was born prematurely, at six months, I had to stay in the ICU for three months. My weight then decreased to one pound and eight ounces.
The doctors told my family that I would have cerebral palsy and mental retardation. I never developed those things, and I would like to think of myself a happy and healthy 21 year old college student. However, because there was a lack of oxygen coming to my brain when I
was born, I was eventually diagnosed with a retinal tear in my right eye. I had to take daily breathing treatments when I came home from the hospital for the next couple of years. The tear impacts my vision, especially at night, and some doctors have told me that it could one day be
severe enough to the point where I could develop glaucoma when I am a lot older. A healthy retina shouldn’t have any fluid coming through a retinal hole or tear; mine
does, and some of the symptoms of a tear or a  etachment can include floaters, which are similar to small circles that some people with the tear can see. nevertheless, I am always grateful. I was bullied in middle and high school because of my high prescription for my glasses. They are very thick, but at least I can see. I have my vision; it’s just not as strong as some people would like to think. When I was 16, I also lost fifty pounds, and suddenly all the people who picked on me because of my vision wanted to be my friend. I cried countless times
because I wanted to be just like everyone else. I wanted to have glasses with a regular, barely there prescription and perfect vision. I didn’t want to be the ‘freak’ of the classroom who was also a nerd. Whenever I got upset about this, my mom would always tell me to get up and thank God for the fact that at least, I can see. At least, I can breathe without being tied up to a machine. At least I’m not dead. I am her last child, her little model, her scholar, and I am always going to be her fighter. I can’t play the victim, I have to keep moving forward, because there is someone out there who has it much worse and is living in the realm of sunshine, as my grandmother says
about happiness. Which, is true. I am humbled by God’s wisdom and mercy. I thank Him everyday that I can drive my car, walk, talk, eat, chew, and do the things the doctors told me I could never do. I can do all of this
without an aid, a service animal, a nurse. I have an attitude of gratitude because I am able to share my story. I have a name, an actual birth date, and I am here. A force of willpower and courage to be reckoned with, willing to bestow my story to anyone that will listen, always looking at the stars and knowing I have at least two angels watching me, every day. Breathing, is a luxury, wrapped up in the love of God’s plan for all of us. A simple ‘hello’ is someone else’s gratitude, because maybe yesterday they had been in a coma. That’s the thing about people; you never know their story, until you ask.

Going confidently for the results that I desire

Robert T. Lee
North Carolina A&T State University

As a recent high school graduate, feeling almost like an alien standing at the verge of a brand new world, I realize how important it is to successfully deal with potential
challenges and obstacles in my life. I am about to step into college and I’m being told by my family and my friends to expect the unexpected, and be ready to go through things I have never experienced before. The whole thing is a bit much for an eighteen year old to handle, but then I feel better once I think about something I have been through many times already that required me to use confidence and the Power of Positive Thinking to get the results I wanted from what I was involved in. An important moment from my childhood that showed me how to use positive thinking to achieve in my life is the first time I auditioned to be in my school band. I was in the 6th grade and I have to admit, it was majorly intimidating. I could feel the eyes of all the other students who were trying out, even though they had their eyes on their own instruments. I knew they were looking at me anyway. On top of that, my Mom was looking, and of course I wanted to look good in front of her. I also really wanted to impress the director, and his team of instructors. I had imagined how the whole thing would play out when I was rehearsing at home, in my room the week before. I was going to drum my heart out, and everybody was going jump up and give me a standing
ovation, and I’d have my place in the band. Easy. But here I was at my audition, standing there shaking and sweating, and trying to hide it. All of these scary thoughts started flooding into my mind. They were almost like
voices, and they were telling me all of the reasons why I could fail. All sorts of fears started creeping in, including how talented the other students trying out were, and how
they would take up all of the slots in the band before I could get picked. I wondered if I could actually impress the instructors judging my performance, and if I really had the special qualities that they were looking for. I went over my routine, becoming anxious that I would forget something and not even make it all the way through. I stood there watching the other students play, and every time one of their names was called, I got more and more nervous, with beads of sweat forming on my forehead.
And then the moment came, when they called my name: “Robert Lee”. I thought about what I wanted, and what would happen if I messed up. I could not let that happen,
so I did the best thing that I could think to do. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled out all of the courage that I had inside of me. I used the Power of Positive
Thinking to recall the training Iʼd had up to that point, and how much I loved drumming, even at that young age. Once I changed my thinking, my entire routine came back to my mind, from start to finish. I clenched my teeth, took another deep breath, and started my performance. I raised my chest up high, and charged into my routine as confidently as I could. Before I knew it, I was finished, I couldn’t wait to see what everybody thought. Once the instructors judged how I did, I was picked for the band and given my place on the drum line, and I was as happy as I could be. I’ve auditioned for band more than ten times since then, and every time I can’t help but have a quick moment when that same fear and intimidation pops up, they way it did in my very first audition. But whenever it tries to happen, I pull from that same stability and confidence that I discovered within me during those tryouts back in the sixth grade. I am able to pull from positive thoughts to put keep myself on track, and put myself in line with what I want, whether itʼs in school, dealing with my family at home, or socially when Iʼm out by myself or with my friends. The Power of Positive Thinking is a big part of how I approached applying for North Carolina A&T State University, and auditioning
for a place in the schoolʼs band. I am able to make negative thoughts go away, instead of chickening out and hesitating to go after what I want, I take a breath, imagine the best outcome that I can, and go confidently for the results that I desire. Knowing how to do this makes me better at going after what I want and continuing to become the person that I want to be.

What you fear you can't always control

Shaya Crabtree

This isn’t going to be one of those essays about conquering your fears. This is an essay about embracing them.

My sophomore year of college I finally caved. Forced by academic standards and core curriculum, I could no longer put off taking the class I had been avoiding since my sophomore year of high school: Speech. The course was disguised as “Fundamentals of Communication” with a syllabus placing emphasis on computer-based testing, outlining by hand, and writing speeches. But I wasn’t fooled. This was a class about giving speeches.

I’m a writer by trade, meaning it’s what I’m studying in college and what I’ve always wanted to be. Writing speeches isn’t a big deal to me. Communicating my thoughts through written word is not a big deal to me. Unfortunately, this class was titled wrong. It should have been named “Fundamentals of Oral Communication.” Nobody cared about what I had written. Nobody cared that I had perfect outlines, fleshed out with perfect introductions, body paragraphs, conclusions, and catchy hook words to draw the audience in. My written speeches were textbook, exactly what my teachers were looking for. Except it didn’t matter. All that mattered was what I said at the podium and we weren’t allowed to bring the speeches we’d written with us, only notecards that could hold no more than a couple of lines of key words that would help us remember what we were trying to say.

My first speech I memorized. I practiced it well over fifty times, confident that if I tried hard enough I could replicate the exact eloquence of the words I’d written down orally when I voiced them. I was nervous, but I was prepared. I signed myself up as the last student to give their speech in order to give myself more time to practice and time to observe what everyone else did wrong or did right and learn from my classmates’ mistakes and successes. I couldn’t have prepared more if I tried. Then it came time to give the speech.

It was awful.

It wasn’t a case of blanking on the spot. I retained every word of my speech. It was engrained into the gray matter of my brain. I recited it in my dreams for nights on end. I knew everything I was supposed to say, except I couldn’t say it. My heart was pounding, my palms were sweaty, and the only thing shakier than my hands was my voice. I fumbled through the entire speech, fully aware that I sounded like I was seconds away from crying. I just wanted out of that room, out of the spot light. I chopped my speech in half on the spot, cutting out everything important that I was supposed to say just to be done with it all.

I got a C on the speech. I’d never gotten a C in my life. I was a straight A student with a 4.0 GPA that graduated high school with an honors diploma and a 4.4 GPA. I’m the kind of person who freaks out if they get an A-. Only this time I was too traumatized by the entire experience to care that I’d gotten the lowest grade of my life. I was actually relieved. My performance didn’t deserve a grade considered “average.”

Devastated, for my second speech I no longer cared about the rules. I changed my speech to 9pt. font, printed the entire thing out, and glued it onto the fronts and backs of my notecards. I knew I’d be docked points for it, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to survive. I thought maybe if I gave the audience no eye contact and focused solely on reading aloud the words on my notecards in front of me, I wouldn’t be so nervous. Yes, it would be an awful, uninteresting performance, but I didn’t care. Still, I had hope that maybe this speech wouldn’t be as bad as the last. I practiced diligently, memorizing the speech in its entirety even though it wasn’t required this time. Again I went last. Again I watched as others struggled and glided through their presentations with ease. Then it was my turn.

This time it went even worse.

The second speech was no different than the first, really. Shaky hands, shaky voice. Only this time the speech was longer, required by the syllabus to be more of a challenge than the original. It was so awful I barely remember it. My mind has blocked it out, or maybe my blood pressure was so high that day I was nearly blacked-out on stage. I’m almost grateful that I have no recollection of it. My hands shake just thinking about it even as I type out this essay.

I was grateful to sit back down at my desk after that speech. It had been awful, but this time I hadn’t skipped any lines. I’d said each and every word and I got the information I needed to out there, even if I was a trembling mess as I said it. Maybe I’d actually deserve the C this time.

Then my teacher asked me to stay after class. I was smart enough to know what for.

She told me the speech was good, said it had all the information it was supposed to, and that I shouldn’t be so nervous, but I was so high-strung and exhausted that I broke down in front of her. I sobbed. My professor hugged me. I didn’t even care that everyone saw. I went on a ten minute walk outside in the Midwestern winter cold, still crying, just to calm myself down. It didn’t work. There wasn’t a moment I was calm that entire semester.

The third speech was a group speech. Once again, I tried to be optimistic. I’m an optimistic person by nature. I’m the person my friends go to for advice when they’re feeling sad. I’m the one who sees silver linings even when the sky is so completely eclipsed by clouds that it’s impossible to see their edges.  I thought I could do the speech this time, especially since I was in a group. All eyes weren’t on me. I only played a small role wedged into the middle of the performance when audience attention was at its lowest. It helped that I was motivated not to drag down my group partners. The groups had been chosen randomly and their grades didn’t deserve to suffer just because they’d had the misfortune of getting stuck with the most anxious person in class.

We practiced the speech together and it was great. Everything was fine. For once I was calm when we approached the front of the room. I was even calm when the members before me gave their portion of the speech. But then it was my turn and the eye of the storm had passed. I was back in the heavy rains and turbulent wind and not a single thing about my performance had improved. It was awful. I didn’t cry this time, but only because I raced out of the room as soon as I could. My professor didn’t stop me to give me pointers. It hadn’t made a difference before and it wasn’t going to make a difference now.

There was only one speech left in the semester, and something had to change. It felt like I had tried everything to get over my fear and excel in the course, but I hadn’t. There was one last thing left I could do: Focus on the things I could control.

I can’t control the state of shock my body goes into when I give a speech. No matter how hard I try, no matter how calm I am, no matter how good of a headspace I’m in, my own confidence and preparedness just doesn’t matter when I’m in front of a room. My body shuts down, and I can’t control that.

What I could control was my performance in other aspects of the class. I’d gotten great grades on all of my small homework assignments, my written outlines, and my mid-term, and I knew if I could get an excellent grade on my final, it wouldn’t matter how poorly I did on my last speech.

From that point on, I focused my energy into studying, something I was good at, a habit I knew I could control. I read the textbook, then reread it. I looked at my notes, then high-lighted them, then read them over and over again. I filled out study guides for the course. I got advice from older students who had already taken the class. I put all of my energy into a single test, and I aced it. I scored 148 points out of 150.

I didn’t have to give my last speech.

The anxiety I’d felt every day for the last four months was instantly relieved. I never had to give another speech in my life. On my last speech day, I didn’t show up to class.

It tanked my grade. No matter how good my tests were, the speeches comprised most of the available points in the class, and with my first ever F on that last speech, I barely passed.

But I did pass. And that’s all that matters to me.

I said goodbye to my 4.0 GPA and the straight A streak I’d kept up since kindergarten. It hurt to see the measure of my academic success drop like that, but I learned a valuable lesson in the process: you can’t be good at everything. Sometimes practice doesn’t make perfect. Sometimes there are things you can’t learn no matter how hard you try. For me, giving speeches was like trying to dunk a basketball at only five feet tall. You can do it with a boost, but trampolines aren’t allowed on the court. If you’re short, you’ll never be a good professional basketball player. If you have stage fright, you’ll never be a good public speaker. And I’m really, really okay with that.

Do what you’re good at, not what other people want you to do. Struggling to do something you don’t enjoy will never compare to the feeling of achieving your dreams. And if you’re afraid of something, that’s okay. Fear is a natural instinct. You don’t always have to conquer it. Learn from it. Grow from knowing and accepting your capabilities and your incapabilities. Let fear be the guide that leads you down a path you aren’t afraid of.  You may just find something that excites you instead.

Happiness is knowing ourselves and going from there

Sarah Richards

 Comparison to others is the thief of happiness; controlling what you do, instead of worrying about what other people are doing, is a principle for peace.  I can attest that focusing on what I can control (rather than focusing on what I cannot) helps me achieve more.  When I worked for a drugstore company, I found myself getting upset at the people who were getting promoted and not doing the work I did; it wasn’t till the end of my time there I realized that though I couldn’t control what my boss saw, I could control my attitude (which wasn’t one of gratitude at the time) towards the unfairness.  I asked myself, “Do I really want to continue working for this company?”, and the answer was no.  I didn’t like the company culture, and so, instead of fighting a battle I wasn’t committed to, I left.  I got a much better job, went back to school, and the quality of my life has improved immeasurably. 
            I went back to school at the age of thirty-two, after an almost thirteen year hiatus.  I’d allowed my fear of failure, of not being able to pass College Algebra, keep me from finishing.  Now, with a major I am happy with, I am finishing all the classes I can do, not focusing on what I can’t do, or only believe I can’t do…at least for now.  With my main classes behind me in a year or so, I can focus on the math.  Part of being successful is focusing on the important things first, or the things you can do first. 
            I don’t believe that passing College Algebra is wishful thinking, but the power of positive thinking.  I can’t control having to take the class, but I can control how I will approach it when I do.  Currently, I am being tested for a learning disability; whether I have one or not will not deter me.  At least I will know how to approach it.  My life, so far, has been one of only doing things that come easy to me; I’ve done myself a disservice, because I am not trying to be something I’m not by finishing college, I am trying to become something I am.  For too long, I allowed fear to control my destiny, rather than faith.
            Though we should live our lives as if we’re in complete control of our own destiny (as someone like Robert Herjavec or Mark Cuban would say), it is also important to acknowledge those things we cannot control in the different areas of our lives.
·         Home and family:  I can’t always control the way my husband or daughter acts, but I can control how I react.  Be proactive, not reactive; it is far more effective.  Communication is one of the most important aspects of any relationship. 
·         Work:  There will be times when you have to pick up the slack.  I’ve learned to be grateful that I’m capable enough of not only doing my job, but having time enough to help others.  (Good bosses will know who the good workers are and aren’t.)
·         School:  When you’re working on a group project, if you end up doing most of the work, the work itself and the grade is the reward.  Don’t worry about the one who got it and didn’t deserve it.  If we were completely truthful with ourselves, we would admit that we all get more than we deserve sometimes.  This does not mean be a doormat, but it does mean that our work ethic shouldn’t be dictated by someone else’s, or lack thereof.
·         Life in general:  It’s maddening to watch the news at times, but I can rest, knowing I have done all I can do, or all I want to do, to get the results from others I want.  Few of us get everything we want out of life, and probably even fewer get everything they want out of their leaders.  There will be times you have to pick your battles, and fight for what you want, but choose your battles wisely.  Though I’m not the type to organize a protest, or even participate in one (at least for the present time), I will support those that do fight for the causes I care about.
            When I was a teenager, I was focused on what I wanted, but not how to get what I wanted.  I wanted to marry at 22; I married at 31.  Had I married at 22, my husband wouldn’t have been the same, unchanged man.  I married the changed man; I married the right person, at the right time.  I didn’t fall in love when I wanted to, but that’s the kind of destiny that takes another person to achieve.  I didn’t have a child as young as I had wanted, but that takes two (and biology), also had I chosen to pursue my passion the first time, and gotten an English degree, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now:  pursuing my passion while pursuing the degree that will get me the income I want while doing what I want.  Sometimes, you can have your cake and eat it, too.
            I made choices, and each choice leads to other choices.  Wrong choices sometimes lead to right ones.  (I’ve often heard we’re all one person away from our destiny.)  Life, such as illness or accidents, can get in the way, and so even though we can’t always control what happens to us, we can control how we react to it. 
            Focusing on myself and not others has helped me become a better person.  Without comparing ourselves to others, we can’t look down on others, or get jealous of those we look up to.  Always try to beat your best, not someone else’s, because goals like that are attainable.  Though I sometimes float wherever the wind takes me, it isn’t before I’ve given the wind directions; besides, I can always take a detour.  There are many paths to reaching one’s destiny, and it is never in a straight line.  Focus on what you want, and you will find a way to reach it.

Remaining strong in achieving my goals

Sadie Red Wing (Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe)
North Carolina State University

My name is Sadie Red Wing, and I am attending North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina to pursue a Master of Graphic Design degree. Previously, I graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM, where I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts in New Media Arts. I am an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe in Fort Totten, North Dakota, but my home relies on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. It has been a new adjustment creating a living along the Atlantic Coast in North Carolina. During my higher education attendance, my journey across the country remains adventurous, which I relate to my venturesome personality. My family and peers honor my hard work and bravery in pursuing my education, for my opportunities have been more fortunate than most in my community. As I accept this role model acknowledgment, I strive to remain strong in achieving my goals, as well as lead encouragement to other tribal students who share the same higher education enthusiasm as me.
         While studying at IAIA, I realized the importance of reciprocity to the Native American communities. Growing up, I witnessed the struggle and hardship among the Sioux reservations in South Dakota. I believe the lack of educators in the American Indian communities impacts the race dramatically which continues the reservations' inferiority to historical trauma. It had come to my attention that many reservations struggle with a tremendous amount of health issues, especially in the Native American youth demographic. A future goal of mine is to start a project within an organization that will improve the health among students in American Indian boarding schools. During the four years of my undergraduate studies, I have researched the assimilation processes used on Native Americans through boarding schools. For possible research in the future, I would like to conduct activities schools can use to teach the development of a healthier living by switching to an organic lifestyle.
         Before my graduate admission, I was living with my grandmother in Pierre, South Dakota, where I worked as a graphic designer at a local print shop. During the transition between undergraduate and graduate school, I struggled to find stability in my plans of achieving the goals I set, for my living conditions were poor at the time. I had no computer or internet in my household, and my higher education connections remained in the Southwest—a near thousand miles from South Dakota. My ambitions were too high to settle as a small town designer who made minimum wage, so I put my focus into gathering resources to develop myself as an artist by improving a portfolio and maturing personal statements to suit reputable requirements. With discipline and hard work put into my admission effort, a miracle blessed me with an acceptance to North Carolina State University. My next challenges included moving to North Carolina, obtaining a computer with the required programs needed for a graphic designer, paying the university’s tuition, and executing all of these responsibilities by myself with a very low income. As the ball started rolling on the beginnings of my graduate school dream, I applied to all the means of acquiring financial assistance towards my school funding. With extreme fortune, I received the following scholarships that made my first year at graduate school possible: AIGA Worldstudios "Coyne Family Foundation” Award, American Indian Graduate Center Fellowship, and American Indian Education Foundation Graduate Scholarship. I started the beginning of my graduate program as the underdog, but I am striving to exert my fullest efforts into school in order to excel in my department.
         I introduced the proposal of establishing healthier living in Native American youth as a possible research thesis during my graduate studies. Inclusions of this researched suggested improvements of healthier eating among students in American Indian boarding schools. In order to raise awareness of the possible project, I advocated my ideas to youth groups on reservations in South Dakota. Unfortunately, I was not receiving feedback from the groups, and they seemed uninterested in the important information I had to offer. I discovered that my new challenge was to learn multiple methods of how to properly approach my intended audience. Instead of pursuing the formality of the advocating organic living to Indigenous children as a graduate thesis, I had to take a step back and form the question of how am I going to target my community members in a way that they will accept my ideas and hold trust in me—as an artist.
            As a graphic designer, visual communication is an important aesthetic in the profession of design. During my first year of graduate school, I gained interest in the study of visual rhetoric. I believe understanding rhetorical methods for communicating appropriately to audiences are crucial factors when displaying culture-related topics. As a Lakota designer, I have a unique advantage in apprehending cultural significance compared to others in the NCSU design program. I shifted my thesis from producing an organization that will improve health issues to the study of ethnic communication in design and how my artifacts will represent my culture appropriately. I feel recognizing these communication methods through my graduate studies will prepare me for future advocacy and leadership positions. I aim to be relevant in future trends and profound in a profession that is less excelled in the Native American community. 

Focusing on things you can control

Julie Slama
Yale University

It’s 5:30 a.m. on a Friday. Some of my friends are just getting home from their night out, but my day is already beginning. I throw on my uniform and head to work for my five-hour shift lifeguarding at the pool, then head straight to my 11:30 a.m. Chinese class. After Chinese, I have a thirty minute lunch break before my macroeconomics class begins, followed by my international relations class, a tutoring lesson for Chinese, and a section discussion for my European Union class, which had classes earlier in the week. I look to the clock to find that it’s already 4:45 p.m.; I only have fifteen minutes to get to my shift at the fitness center as an attendant. When that shift wraps up at eight, I eat my pre-packed dinner and head back to the dorm to fulfill my duties as social media coordinator for a start-up. Suddenly, it’s 10:15 p.m. and there’s a text on my phone from a classmate, inviting me to a party. Climbing into bed, I’m awake just long enough to type a polite rejection before it all starts again on Saturday.  

My place at one of the most prestigious universities in the world can be credited to focusing on the things I can control. From overcoming bullying in middle school to toppling academic obstacles in the transition from a rural high school to an elite university, my uphill battles have been fought by focusing on what I can control.

On a chilly day in December 2013, my acceptance letter to Yale arrived, making me the first student in my high school’s 126-year history to be accepted into the Ivy League. Coming with this dream, even after my need-based scholarships are applied, is a $25,000 per year bill. This amount is something that my parents are unable to assist me with; providing for my education falls on my shoulders. As a result, I work 40+ hours per week, split between three part-time jobs. My studies come during slow periods during my jobs and during breaks, with larger assignments typically requiring a few all-nighters to complete.

            Incredibly enough, by focusing on the things I can control has given me a better focus on my studies. My work schedule offers gaps in the day centers around my professors’ office hours, which gives me a chance to build relationships with my professors and to better understand material when compared to my classmates. Avoiding the party scene for the sake of my work schedule also gives me better clarity of thought when study breaks do arise, helping me study more efficiently over a shorter amount of time. Of course, the fact that this extra work is put in for the sole purpose of my education is the main source of my motivation. Receiving my paychecks each month is a weight off my shoulders, knowing that I’m slowly chipping away at my tuition bills while working towards my dreams.

            So each morning I get up at 5:30 a.m., work, go to class, work some more, and then study. It’s not glamorous or all that fun, but each day I go to bed with the knowledge that I’m doing something that everybody in my hometown is proud of. Someday I’ll return to Nebraska and give back to the community that gave me the educational opportunities I have today, but for now, I’m working and remaining focused on what I can control each day to achieve my dreams.

Focusing on things you can control

Anea Gaskin

In life decisions such as making purchases, locating destinations via GPS, choosing insurance or health plans, estate planning or organizing a vacation, all require mathematical competence. Business and industries need workers who can solve real-world problems, explain their thinking to others, identify and analyze trends in data, and use modern technology. I’ve always found that life does not allow for redo; however, redundancy on a consistent basis provides the opportunity to change variables in between attempts. The subjects that I excel in are math and science because of the logical and critical thinking that is required to refine a solution. Math was never my favorite but I knew that I could not escape it, so I buckled down and really had to understand the various components of it. It’s next to impossible to live an independent life without basic math skills. In 7th grade at Hoech Middle School in St. Ann, Missouri, my Algebra teacher challenged us vigorously. I refused to merely accept the B, I was given therefore I pushed to be added to the advanced class which was 1st hour. Not only did I receive A’s in the class but also maintained the highest percentages from all the math classes.
My love of science stems from Jackson Park’s after school program called environmental detectives. I participated in the activity from 4th through 6th grade. The program’s basis is similar to what Carl Sagan stated, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” I was able to become aware of all the links in the natural world of environmental problems. Science always made me question what/ how I can change the environment to become more sustainable for the growing capacity of the people on this planet. Science allows me to deepen my understanding of the complexities in our resources, environmental problems and recognize opportunities to improve solutions for Co2 levels and water depletion. If we don't take better care of what we have and we aren't caution in what we let into the atmosphere. Being able to solve an environmental concern logically as well as factually is essential for becoming an Environmental Engineer, which is my field of study at Arizona State University in fall 2015. Both curriculums absorb, sort, organize, and used to data to make decisions. As science attributes to my success as an engineer because dealing with the quality water, I must have take samples and test then as well as closely examining the specimen that I collect. Also, there is much research that is going to affect how I will be able to clean and change the quality and supply of water that we are able to use in the world. While researching this major, several things became imperative – One that I needed to have a stable background in math and science; Secondly, that STEM professions would make up 40% of new jobs, per the Department of Labor listing in 2013. Not only did I need to have a sound understanding but use the principles of engineering, soil science, math, biology, and chemistry to develop solutions to environmental problems. Throughout my high school career I have made sure that courses were on par to the universities in which I was seeking an education. For the 2014-2015 school years, I had AP Calculus, AP and Ecology among other honors and AP subjects.
As Malcolm X once said, “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” I was never a kid that sat around and let the days run together. I always wanted to do something to better myself. Education doesn’t set limits, but open doors that were once closed, provide answers to questions and expand curiosity to new things. From a young age, I began reading and questioning everything that I saw. When I was in second grade, due to my questioning, I was put in the G.A.T.E -Gifted and Talented Education program a precept to a college ready culture. Since then, I’ve been in accelerated and honors courses in middle and on the high school level. I attribute my success to many factors; the biggest is the educational foundation that was set by my parents and grandparents. My maternal grandmother was an educator for 35 years; our vacations coincided with her NEA and MEA conventions. She explained that we are not in this world alone, it’s imperative that I familiarize myself with various people, circumstances and demographics that I will be able to have a better understanding of the world around me. It came as quite a shock to learn in my 8th grade history class at Hoech Middle School in St. Ann, Missouri, that some countries do not allow or limit the amount of education a woman can have. I’m not sure if knowing that tidbit of information coupled with my ancestors being denied the opportunity, to which many of us take advantage helped shape my views on education. Nowadays, there are seldom limitations with education and to know that I can accomplish things that are have yet to be discovered, or improve on the quality of life, will keep me excited about what’s to come.

You cannot give up on your dreams

Nyasia Cooper 
Kutztown University

When my current mother found me, I was wrapped in a thin blanket in the arms of my birth mother, my face blue from the cold. My current mother then took my birth mother to court to get legal guardianship of me. Her next stop was Saint Christopher’s hospital, where the doctors said I wouldn’t make it even a year. My mother took me and told the doctors, “Don’t ever tell me a black child isn’t going to make it”. During the first two years of my life I had sleep apnea which means I forgot to breathe. My mom would stay up at night to watch over me. On top of this condition, I also needed open heart surgery and suffered from asthma along with cataracts.  

I am thankful that my mother has helped me overcome most of my health issues, but I still struggle with the cataracts. In middle school, I woke up one day, I looked at the usually colorful cartoon characters on my walls and asked my mom, “why are they black and white today?” She agreed with me saying that they looked a bit dull then sent me off to school, when I came home that day the colors of the characters were back. The cataracts also made it very difficult to read. The doctors suggested laser eye surgery but my mom was too afraid that something would go wrong and my sight would be taken away forever. Because surgery is still not an option, at times I complain about my eyes hurting so my mother gave me glasses to wear for a while. My glasses allow me to overcome this difficulty so I can continue my passion for reading. I used to read a lot in middle school, but no book struck such a chord with me as The Percy Jackson Series did.  The series follows the main character Percy and his struggles with ADHD, dyslexia, as well as finding out he is a half-blood. The way he handles his problems and his loyalty to his friends inspired me to tackle troubles with reading during middle school because of my cataracts. It would be very difficult to read in class or just for fun at times, which would frustrate and embarrass me in class. Whenever I wanted to quit, I would try and read Percy Jackson and become empowered by his struggles and want to read more and more.

I am particularly proud of  my stories on Wattpad.com. I started writing in middle school a short while after I finished the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I love to write stories about werewolves and vampires and even fan fictions of Percy Jackson. I love to write stories of fiction because I hope that my readers will get the same feeling or similar feeling I got from reading stories like the Percy Jackson series. I read and write fiction because it is an escape from the (more often than not) harsh truth that is reality. No matter the situation you could always read a book of fiction and relax and forget for a few hours as you get lost in a story.  On Wattpad I have written 7 stories, 4 of them are complete. The length of the stories depend on my inspiration on them, how my readers respond to them, and the time I have available to write. As of now I have 3,181 followers, two of my top stories have over 660,000 reads. I have worked on each of my stories for half a year at the least. I feel as though I will never get bored with writing, because there are always ideas popping in my head that beg to be put on paper for others to read.    

When someone on Wattpad comments on one of the chapters of my stories, it always fills me with joy and gives me the drive to write more and more no matter what my day was like. I hope that one day I’ll get a comment from one of my readers telling me how one of my books has helped them in a small or life changing way. Even if the comment points out a grammar or spelling mistake, it only makes me want to become a better writer, so I immediately fix the problem and go on writing. I hold pride in my stories because I love my stories and am overjoyed to find others love them as well. I want to write fiction professionally because it comes from a person’s mind and can spring from any person, place, or thing. Fiction is an escape from the sometimes harsh blow of reality. A book of fiction can have it’s reader, crying, laughing, fearful, hopeful, and wanting to strangle certain characters, kiss others, and yell ‘kiss already’ to the two characters that they want together. I know this because I have experienced it while reading many times over the years. It is true that you can learn a lot from school and everyday experience it is the same for reading fiction novels.

My major is English, more specifically Creative Writing, because I want to gain as much experience as I can in writing so that I become better for my readers. A English course I took in my first semester opened up my eyes to many things that I really would've learned on my own. What is the reason why humans are at the top of the food chain? We have the ability to write things down. My Honors English teacher in high school told me that, we wouldn't have history or any kind of books without that one thing that puts us on the top. Writing and reading is important, it helps people, changes people little by little or in a big way. Reading and writing has changed me, made me better, more accepting of my weakness and made me stronger. I hope reading this has changed you.

You cannot give up on your dreams

Krishma Patel

Having an attitude of gratitude impact in overcoming a life challenge

Today, we live in an era where opportunities for success and personal achievement are endless. Boundaries that used to set minorities and women back from pursuing their dreams have slowly disappeared. There is no denying the world in modern times has become open and welcoming to all people in light of their dreams and futures they desire.

Born and raised in Georgia, my family and I love it here. My parents immigrated to the United States and became citizens of this melting pot of a country in light of discovering better opportunities for themselves. They started from the bottom and worked hard to give my brother and I an opportunity to become educated and find a better life for us. In order to support my parents and help them out I decided to apply to in state colleges and universities. My list included of the usual public state schools except for Emory University. This college was quite a reach for me, but I decided to apply anyhow. I am delighted to say that a couple of months after I applied I was accepted at Emory University. My family including myself was and is so proud of this achievement. Being a first generation college student, it is a learning experience for all of us, including the tuition aspect. There was no way we would be able to pay such a hefty tuition of 64,000 dollars a year. Therefore we asked for financial aid repeatedly and they came back with money but not enough to cut it. As a full time student, I also decided to take on a job during the year to alleviate some of the payments from my parents.

Our struggles have only continued along with this there are the usual college struggles of finding yourself and what you love. College is a time for growing and learning independently and together. This is not an easy task alone, and it is easy for college students to be swallowed up in this mindset. In order to strive for your dreams you have to take a step back and look at the big picture of the opportunities given to us everyday. Emory University, my work-study job, my support system including family and friends are my greatest blessings in life. I am lucky and grateful for these aspects of my life. Even though struggles come to all of us in different, we are able to move forward. These strengths that keep us moving forward are our greatest joys and keep us on the right track towards our aspirations. Instead of worrying and sulking about the struggles, we should hold are heads up for the opportunities we have to get through these struggles.

Along with financial troubles, I was also going through struggles with finding what I love and what I wanted to pursue in life. This past year I bounced around from researching and finding different majors endlessly until I decided on pursuing Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology as well as decided to continue my education in Optometry after my next two years at Emory for that I am beyond thankful for education I am gaining at Emory University. 

Even though life throws curveballs, you cannot give up on your dreams, you have to bounce back from these pitfalls and get back up. This mindset in pursuing my dreams and aspirations is what I am most grateful for throughout my education thus far.

Focusing on things you can control

Jessica Kolbe 

Invictus - By William Ernest Henley 
   
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
 

“I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul” (Henley 15-16). These words, written by William Ernest Henley in his poem Invictus, appeal to a control freak like me. In an ideal world, I would be capable of regulating and planning out every detail of my future. Unfortunately, Henley’s poetic and idyllic words cannot be taken out of context. Life is filled with variables that are far beyond human control, despite how hard we may fight against them. There are times in life when even our best fails to get us where we want to go. In those moments, all we can do is persevere in the areas that we can control. Throughout my life, school has always been a place where I have been capable of controlling the outcome. As I have aged, however, I have learned that greater, more volatile forces can overcome even the parts of our lives that seem to be controllable. In the face of this harsh reality, a person is faced with two options. One, a person can accept that they have no ultimate responsibility over the outcome of things and become passive, simply moving wherever the current of life takes them. Or two, a person can accept that they have no ultimate responsibility over the outcome of things and, despite this, keep fighting. This kind of individual looks at a situation and does everything within their power to keep moving forward and working in the areas that they do have control over, no matter how futile it may seem. The first individual is characterized by resignation; the second, determination. I strive to be that second person.

I have always loved school. There is something very satisfactory about achieving success as a direct result of my own efforts. During high school, I was surrounded by the message that by dedicating myself to my academic performance, I would be able to achieve my goals. For me, my ultimate goal was attending a four-year university. So I did what I was told would lead to success. I pointedly pursued good grades in all of my classes and I challenged myself by taking advanced programs. In a way, my hard work paid off. My focus in school resulted in my acceptance into several great colleges. Unfortunately, for the first time in my life, school relied on more than my own dedication. It relied on money, something that was outside my realm of control. In my limited teenage view of the world, money was an afterthought, the thing the counselors would mention in passing at the end of their “path to success” presentations. For me, this little glossed over detail was the difference between a four-year college and community college. My parents had brought up the dreaded words, “community college,” as I neared the time of college acceptance letters. In my youthful mind, that was not an option. After all, I had controlled my world so perfectly. I knew that money was crucial, but in my ideal world I believed that doors would open simply because of my academic success. Although receiving my acceptance letters was exciting, it was tinged by the nervousness of what my financial aid and scholarship offers would look like. Finally, my parents and I sat at the kitchen table on a Saturday morning and I reached the conclusion that they feared all along – we could not afford a four-year school without taking out student loans. My heart broke as my parents, with tears in their eyes, apologized for not having the money. Still, they told me it was my decision. If necessary, I could take out the loans. I understood and shared their concerns about my graduating college with debt, so I made the only decision that I could. I would be attending community college.

Thus resolved, I wasted no time being idle. I began to research the community college, submitted my application, and looked into the programs that they offered. When friends and classmates asked me where I was going to school, their reaction was often a mixture of shock and pity. If asked why I would be going to the community college, I simply told them that it was what my parents could afford. Through this time, I successfully controlled my behavior; however, my attitude was a little harder to conquer. Many times I fought to stave off jealousy of my friends who were going to their dream schools, disappointment at where I was going, and anger at no one in particular that my life did not look like I had so meticulously planned. I would be lying if I said I did not still struggle with some of these emotions today, but I keep moving forward. I have maintained a 4.0 GPA at the community college and have plans to transfer to an excellent university after earning my Associate’s degree. I am employed at a great office, working with wonderful people and gaining experience.  Even this essay is an act of assertion over my future. Although I do not control the outcome, I am working as hard as I can to make progress.

My life does not look like I thought and planned it would because of circumstances outside my control, but that does not mean I have given up. Every day, I continue to work toward my goals, even though I do not know what my future will look like or where I will be. I am not the master of my fate, but I can control my attitude. I am not the captain of my soul, but I can act to keep moving forward. Perhaps that is what it means to have an “unconquerable soul” (Henley 4). Living in this unpredictable, untamable world, the best we can do is focus on the parts of our lives we can control. Our actions and attitudes are none other than our own.

Looking on the bright side

Ashley Wilkerson
University of South Florida

I currently am a nursing student at the University of South Florida and will earn a BSN as well as a minor in public health at that institution.  I plan to further my education and obtaining a Masters in nursing in order to not only better my career but also myself.  I never want to stop shy of my best.  My goal is to become a Nurse Practitioner in Florida and have a partnership in an established practice.  I will complete my two years of graduate school mainly online so I am able to continue working and gaining experience with my Bachelors in Nursing.  I deserve to be awarded this scholarship because I have always worked hard and strived to do my best in school, but sometimes no matter how hard a person works they still need outside help.  For example, I have worked part time during the school year and added a full time job in the summer in order to put myself through school.  Nursing school is my dream and I will do everything it takes to aid in my success.  I am also married to a man who is training to deploy in the next couple months, so with this I have to be extremely dedicated to focusing on my studies even with a piece of my heart on the other side of the world.  My husband is Active Duty Marine Corps.   It is difficult to manage everything on my own while he is gone such as finances and time among other things, but it is all well worth the extra effort.  Nursing school is extremely expensive because there are many added expenses that are tacked onto the regular tuition and class prices, such as uniforms, extra books and handbooks as well as medical supplies used in clinical settings.  My husband and I have quickly realized that all of these expenses are becoming a financial burden and causing us to struggle in an area that we did not foresee.  To save on expenses I am attempting to work nights, and living farther from campus but do not want to continue making sacrifices in these areas as I do not want them to affect my academic success.
            With my husband being in the military, I have learned to focus on things that I can control and remain positive while being grateful for the experiences in my life.  With the schedules that my husband is accustomed to, I am just as prone to having my life turned upside down at the drop of a hat.  For example, after our engagement in December we began planning a wedding for the next November only to have it turned upside down when he received last minute orders to be stationed two thousand miles away.  I was accepted to school in Florida, and with his orders in California we have to manage being newlyweds across country.  It has become financially difficult for us to manage as he is training for a deployment and I have to manage the finances for two people.  Everything happens so quickly and without warning in the military community, so I have to learn to focus on the things that I can control. I have to be extremely organized in every aspect of my life and make a detailed to do list in my planner in order to remain calm throughout my hectic lifestyle.  I also have learned the power of gratitude, and feel that it is one of the most important aspects of my life because we spend so much time apart and are accustomed to serious last minute changes so I have to be grateful for all of the positives in my life.  There are times when we have been apart for upwards of six months during his deployment, so even the couple days we get to spend together every two or three months are like a dream come true.  I also have to be grateful for the opportunity of being accepted into nursing school.  I understand that I am finishing my schooling and bettering myself while across the country my significant other is doing the same thing.  I have to keep my head up and remain positive during this period of my life; otherwise it would be an impossible task.  I have to always look on the bright side and understand that things could always be worse than what they are today.  I am thankful for the opportunity that I was given in even being able to attend college because not everyone has that luxury.  Although, it has become a financial burden to pay the expenses of the nursing school, I have to be grateful that I even had a place in the program.  Going to nursing school has always been a dream of mine and no matter the challenges in my life I will stop at nothing to complete this level of schooling.

Make the most out of controlling the things you can.

Yang Song

When you’re young, it’s easy to forget that while the earth spins on a single axis, that that axis is not you. From our births, we’re spoiled with the idea that it stops when we stop and goes when we go. On our first birthdays, although we weren’t aware of it, we fawned when what seemed like a million people, at the time, gathered around us to sing happy birthday and inadvertently pouted when they would draw their attention away for just a second. Although dulled, this illusion didn’t end as we grew up. Without a doubt, we could stop the world with the mere whistle of importance. We’d throw handfuls of markers and folders in the shopping cart ever August, not worrying once about how much it all cost, but about how cute that pink would look with our new back to school outfits. We’d tossed on clothes to go to the movies with our friends, not even questioning our parent’s exhaustion after a long days work, as we waited at the door for them to hand us a fresh ten for popcorn and drive us off into the sunset. We didn’t always get what we wanted, but we were lucky enough to have people who did their best to give it to us. They did it because they loved us, and although we thanked them endlessly for it, we couldn’t help but develop this idea that we were entitled to some part of the world that would always be there for us. No matter what we were sure that we would always have our friends, our family, and our life.

I was no different. I was always categorized as a pretty selfless, caring person, but that didn’t stop me from throwing the biggest hissy fit of my life when my parents decided to move us 1,200 miles away from everything I loved the eve of my sophomore year. It’s not like it snuck up on me, I mean they had been talking about it for months, and it’s not like we hadn’t moved before, because we had; five times to be exact. It was the fact that the only thing I had asked for was to be able to spend one last summer with my friends and I didn’t even get that. Just a few weeks in, my dad decided to take me to China for the rest of the summer, giving me only 48 hours before flying me off to a place where I had no means to communicate with anyone back in the States. Back then I felt like they had robbed me of the closure I deserved with the people I loved the most, and with that came the anger that they had no right to take everything away from me.

A month and a half later, after the worst trip of my life, that anger hadn’t left my side. In fact, it didn’t leave my side for another 6 months, which was roughly the time it took me to hit rock bottom. For months, I went to school hating absolutely everything about my new life just because it was new. I hated the name of my new school mascot, I hated how I had to walk up stairs between every class, I hated how I was the only sophomore in mostly senior classes, and most of all, I hated that no matter how hard I wanted it to be, that that place would never be home to me.

It’s safe to say that I was pretty miserable and at the peak of my misery, the anger that I had been holding onto for months had finally caused enough pressure for me to crack into a million pieces. I was devastated, and I was done, and then I realized, that maybe all this wasn’t worth it. That no matter how tightly I held on to the past, that it would never come back to me. I couldn’t make the world spin backwards and give me back the time I so desperately wanted back, because whether I liked it or not, the world kept going whether I was or not.

I learned that you can’t always control everything, but you can make the most out of controlling the things that you can. After all, life isn’t made up of the big moments, but of the culmination of a bunch of little moments. Sometimes the big things in life aren’t always in your control, but the little ones certainly are, because no matter how little, it can still make a difference. That’s when I stopped focusing on the fact that my mom’s company had relocated her, and started focusing more on the place we were now. Instead of saying no to everything, I finally starting saying yes even if I wasn’t completely convinced; One of which, included joining the track team because a few girls from my English class wanted me to, even though I had no interest in sports. Sure, I hated running around the track, but it was all kind of worth it for the gossip sessions in the locker room afterwards. It wasn’t exactly home, but it was starting to feel like I was building a second one. That year, I learned that although you can’t always stop the world from spinning, you can always add your own twist to it

Never give up on your goals

Minerva Mejia

My life before America was much different in the Dominican Republic.  I moved to Florida when I was 13 years old.  I was born in the United States, however, I was raised in the Dominican Republic and lived there for 10 years with my mother, grandmother and my siblings.
You might wonder why I stayed in the Dominican Republic so long.  The answer is quite simple.  I didn’t have any family to take care of me in America when I was younger.  Years ago my passport expired while I was in the Dominican Republic and it would take a lot of time and money before I would be able to travel again. Everything was different there; the schools, shopping centers.  Luckily, I still remembered things about America to help me transition.
           I was so happy in the Dominican Republic because my beautiful family and I were together.  One day a few years ago, my grandfather  who lived in Florida called. He said to my mother, “We have to fix Minerva’s passport so she can travel again.”  My mother agreed but at the same time she was sorrowful.  She exclaimed upon hanging up, “Hay mi linda princesa, pronto te iras y me dejaras sola.”  In English she was saying that her pretty princess has to leave the country without her.  I put my head down and stared at the floor, thinking about being far apart from my family and how it wouldn’t be easy.  Nonetheless, I knew leaving was for my well-being and a bright future.
           The days passed, and finally it was the day I would venture out to live with my grandfather.  I went with my mother and my father to the American Consul to renew my passport as soon as possible. The Consul had accepted our request and renewed my passport!  I was very excited but all my family was very sad because I would no longer be with them every day. Two weeks later my ticket was booked.  I was finally going to America!  
           It was September 17th 2011, the day I was waiting for!  My family and I were in the car ready to go to the airport.  Heartache filled their spirits, but I was focused only on getting the best education and achieving my goals.
           They called my flight number, and I said goodbye to everyone. All of them were crying and I began to cry too.  I walked toward the airplane doors, and I could hear my grandmother’s voice shouting, “Adios, Adios.”  In the airplane I felt gloomy traveling by myself.  I just wanted my brothers and sisters at that very moment to be with me.
           Two years passed and I found that living in Florida was not what I expected it to be.  I liked my new school, my teachers and friends.  But, my grandfather had a drinking problem.  I didn’t understand.  I asked myself, why help someone and be nice to them for a couple of days and then make the rest of their stay miserable?  I prayed to God for strength but I could not take it any more.  I just wanted to go back to Dominican Republic and be happy with my immediate family.  I took my grandfather’s phone and hid under the bed to call my mother.  I told her what was happening and she said she would send for me soon.  
           On December 22nd 2013, a couple of months after arriving back to Dominican Republic, my sister got a call at 2:00 am.  She was given gut-wrenching news.  Our father had a motorcycle accident and passed away.  It felt like my whole world was paralyzed in seconds.  I couldn’t believe it.  He was my hero, my everything.  Days before Christmas, he passed away.  It was the worst experience, ever.  My daddy was gone.  The man who taught me how to be brave and strong.  My father’s death was what really changed my life.  The suffering that I felt when I used to live with my grandfather, was nothing compared to this immense pain that will always be present now in my life.
           The last memory that I have of him was the last time I saw him in 2012.  He hugged me and said, “I will always love you, mi Hija.”
           “What are you doing, Bubu?” my mother asked.  (I didn’t like my nickname, it sounded so funny but I was used to it.)  “I’m on the computer, don’t you see?”  She walked over and continued, “Yes, but are you looking for flights again?”  I nodded.  “Si mami, I want to go back.” “Back where?” she wondered.  “I want to go back to America.  I can’t give up mami.  I have to become someone in life. It has been 4 months since Papi died I am sure he would like me to have a better life, a better future and Dominican Republic is not the place for me.”
           July 20th 2014 I came back, but this time to Boston.  I would be living with my father’s aunt.  She is amazing and the best example for me to become my best self.  She helps me, she understands me and she supports me with good advice.  And the best part is she is nothing like my grandfather.
           Different places, different schools and friends have always been a constant since I was born.  I’ve moved a lot, but that will never stop me from following my dreams.  I am a junior now at West Roxbury Academy.  I’m sure I’ll be able to graduate, if I don’t move any where else. I was afraid at first to go to this new school. But when I was named a High Honor Roll student my first semester, I thought that was crazy and amazing!
           This story is not all about my life before and after coming to America.  It’s just the half!  My focus now is to encourage all my peers with the idea that, “No matter where you come from, or what has happened to you before in life, never give up on your goals.  Always keep trying because it is better to fail a thousand times and fulfill your dreams, than to never try at all.”

Importantce of keeping positive

James Luce

·         Helps you move forward

·         See things in new way

·         Results in less stress

·         Gives you a sense of control

·         Can lead to self-motivation

·         Results in better choices

It is how we act when the world seems against us that truly defines how we are as a person. I would like to say I’m quite positive in this aspect. It is positivity that helps move you forward, the ability to see something to walk towards. The ability to keep up a positive way of being allows you to move forward, view things in new ways, and gives you control over events.
                The reality is that life doesn’t always throw you a bone and we have to have the ability to move forward. In those times you can very well have your nerves pushed in. Still it is when we linger on the bad aspects of what is occurring in those moments that inseminates the concept that everything is horrid, we become blind to what is good about that event. The ability to keep positive in those situations is indicative to moving forward. Once not so long ago I forgot an important item for my lab class, my goggles. The end result is that I was told I couldn’t join in the experiment and thusly earned a zero for that day. Prior to coming to class I was already bogged down from events in my home. Certainly I was ticked, but if I stayed in that train of thought I would have missed out the rest of that day. Through trying to find the positives of the situation I was able to use the extra time I had to complete my studying early thus opening the rest of the day for other activities. If I had stayed in a negative train of thought I would have failed to study and started the following day on a negative note with more work. Negativity really only breeds more negativity as you can see. Keeping positive in turn opens the doors for more positive events. The trick I find is to keep that train moving forward.
                It is our emotions that lead to how we view the things and people around us. There is no middle ground as being happy or mad will distort how you perceive something. An example being whether that pencil sitting on the table is just a stick of wood or a tool in which we express our creativity. It all depends on how you are feeling and simple think about things. Through trying to keep up your good mood it is highly likely you’ll look for the good in other things. Really this is a virtue that you have to maintain every day. When you awaken that day you need to keep a positive look on what is to come ahead rather than sulk over the fact that you had to wake up. That type of sulking simple shows that you rather sleep then move forward and be productive with your time. Thus, I say waking up positive is just as important as getting breakfast. That cooked bacon won’t look as good if you are negative about the coming day. Taking that first step allows you to maintain a positive hold on things for the rest of the day rather than waste a part it trying to get into a positive mood.
                A major dimension of keeping positive is that it provides you with a sense of undeniable control. You can have everything taken from you, but they cannot take away how you think unless you allow them too. As a matter fact losing everything simple means you stand to gain everything. If there is one thing I can say every human desires it is some type of control. Looking at my Mother and Father you can see it in how they exert control by providing chores for their children. I know that sounds bad but it can be noted that once you try to resist it results in their agitation. This agitation stems from trying to break apart from their exerted control; otherwise they would lack much motivation to get angry. Naturally there are a lot more dimensions to that, but that is certainly a factor. Keeping positive thoughts is my way to control things as it always me to not stress out and results in me making better choices. In that sense controlling my view on things rather than allowing others to decide it for me gives me the ability to control the outcome of events in a big. Thus, keeping positive gives you a power that many rightfully think they don’t. At the end of the day things never go according to plan, but I know full well I can influence the outcome of events in some fashion. In that sense I have power.
                To conclude keeping positive encompasses many things in life such as your ability to move forward, look at things in a new way, and provide you with a sense of control.  Positivity is certainly a major aspect of my life as it allows me to work through anything. There is in rock and hard place unless I think there is. Positivity is thusly tied with optimism, but keep in mind being positive is more of an action you take. Keeping positive is the key to opening the door to unlimited possibilities.

The power of positive thinking

Michele Phillips 
University of Texas

Every one of us has the power to influence our lives. Even though we can’t control all aspects of our lives we have the ability as thinking people to decide how we want to live our lives.  Do we want to be miserable or be happy, do we want to get angry because we did not achieve something we wanted or do we want to let it go? I believe that I can choose how I want to live my life and that even though I will have bumps and bruises along the way I can have the life that I want.

From an early age my parents let me try new things, I didn’t have to be good at them but I did have to follow through until the end. For example, I tried soccer by signing up for a team while I was only five. I did it for a few years but realized that I was a bit afraid of the ball when it came flying at me. Still my parents let me try it. I also was a dancer while in middle school and high school. It was something that I knew I was good at but I also knew and my parents knew I was never going to be a professional dancer someday. Why? I didn’t want it enough. I enjoyed dancing at the football and basketball games, marching in parades and being on a team with girls who became my friends, but I did not have the “drive” to succeed at the next level.

One thing I did have the drive for was academics. Great grades did not come naturally to me, but I knew with hard work that I would get good grades. And, why did I care so much about good grades, especially in high school?  I had set my sights on The University of Texas at Austin and more specifically on the Red McCombs School of Business. I really never doubted that I would attend UT. I “saw” myself there, I imagined myself on the campus. I knew it was a long shot for me to get it but I didn’t care. Even my high school counselor told me I had a slim chance of being accepted, I believed I could to do whatever it would take to be a student who UT would accept. I did four years of sports and worked a part-time job because I knew the more diverse I looked on paper the better my chance of getting in to the school I wanted: The University of Texas.

The UT application asked for essays, up to three if you wanted. I did all three and I believe I wrote the best essays I could. I had the GPA and I had a good ACT score.  What was holding me back from being a shoo-in was that McCombs only accepts 6 percent out of state students and I lived in Illinois. Had I been living in Texas I would have automatic admission (and probably a scholarship or two) but I was now competing with the best and the brightest students from out of state who wanted to attend The University of Texas. I never let that deter me.  I finished my application with the utmost care, did everything they asked for and then sent it out. Then I imagined myself on the campus. I would follow the University’s website almost every day because I wanted to feel a part of the University I would attend.

Sure I humored my parents. I sent applications to other schools as a fall back and even attended an automatic admission weekend at Indiana University for the Kelley School of Business. I didn’t really want to go but my parents said I needed to have a Plan B. I didn’t want a Plan B because I just wanted UT. I looked at my high school’s Naviance program and knew that acceptance into UT from my high school was not promising. I listened to what my counselor told me, but I also knew and felt that anything was possible. I told myself everyone needs a reach school and UT was my reach school and I would never quit reaching for it.

I also knew that if I got accepted into the University there was a chance that I would not get into the business school. I knew I wanted to study accounting and UT is the number one school, so I needed to get into the business school. I wasn’t going to risk getting in and then having to transfer into the business school since I knew that was an even longer shot.

They say Michael Jordan, formally of the Chicago Bulls, use to envision the ball going into the basket.  I envisioned my acceptance letter. That day I did get my acceptance email into the business school at UT I cried. Not because I never believed it would happen, but because all the time and energy I spent envisioning myself at UT was now a reality. I have not regretted for a moment the positive energy or the time I spent willing myself to be accepted in to UT. It is where I belong and where I always envisioned myself.

My journey

Angeline Miller

“I'm about to die,” were the words that kept on repeating in my head as I laid among dead bodies, pretending to be dead. I was born in Liberia, Africa. I was eight years old when my country was going through a civil war, a genocide against my tribe. It was agonizing to hear that my cousin and her family were murdered in close proximity to my home. The following night, my family and I had to flee to my aunt’s house on the other side of
Liberia, going east. The plight of the journey was that we had to travel across the country by foot. We hid during the day and maneuvered by night. The most abhorrent thing my family and I had to do on this journey was to lay among dead bodies on the street, pretending to be dead, when soldiers came our way. Some of the soldiers we encountered were younger than ten, but because they were armed it was our only choice. As the soldiers approached one of the men kicked my leg to the side, and without thinking I put my leg back facing up. After realizing what I did, my thoughts felt like a scratched CD that kept repeating “I'm about to die” over and over. My body felt as if it had been hollowed out and filled with an
unbearable fear. I felt the man’s shoulder over me. It felt like a herd of elephants, pushing me, stomping me into the ground. My fear paralyzed me. After a while, I felt an arm pulling me off the ground. It was my father, telling me to run. I heeded his words and ran, feeling faster than Olympic champion Usain Bolt. This is a moment in my life I will never disregard. After a year or two I came to the United States and my view on life changed. Liberia is a place where women are viewed as no more than housewives. Girls as young as fourteen are processed
into womanhood by being circumcised, a traditional ritual that is performed preparing them to become the third, fourth, or even eighth wife of a man well over double her age. A place where school fees are due at the end of the week, and everyday supplies of water must be extracted from a well. I pride myself for being blessed to experience the two different styles of living. Living in America has
shown me that it is truly the land of opportunity. After coming close to death, I now realize that life is a very valuable thing. It’s not about the materialistic things that will fade away, but things that will build my future. In life, we all need a platform, as a strong house is built on a firm
foundation. I am built on my heritage and culture. My mother always used to tell me it’s not how you start the race, but how you finish it. My race didn’t start off so
great, but I sure will make myself memorable, and hopefully someday be an inspiration to someone.

The Law of Attraction

Robin Collier
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

I plan to be a Computer Engineer, because I excel in math and science, and enjoy applying that knowledge in different ways. My goal is to obtain a Purdue University Master’s Degree from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and work in the Computer Engineering field, preferably writing and programming codes in the area of Automotive Technologies or at an electric/hybrid automotive company. During my years at IUPUI, in addition to doing undergraduate research, I plan to study abroad, and do internships as well as participate in advanced vehicle technology competitions. I am currently a member of the IUPUI Honors College, the IUPUI Brown Leadership Scholars Program, and a student member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers. I was also honored as a 2015 Senator Richard Lugar Minority Scholar finalist. I am very techsavvy, and started my own business fixing various types of electronics and cell phones as well as installing audio equipment, which enabled me to have the funds to buy my own car with cash. In June 2015, I graduated from Floyd Central High School with a 4.26 / 4.0 GPA and was ranked in the top 15% of my class. In high school, I participated in the “Project Lead the Way” (PLTW) STEM program where I took 4 college level engineering classes and discovered that computer engineering will be my chosen career. In each PLTW class, we worked as teams to engineer a variety of projects and learned from each other in the design process. Our Senior team design project involved engineering a more efficient way of filling water bottles from a water fountain.We also worked with local engineer mentors to design, patent and market our new product. My work with PLTW has taught me that effective leaders do not act solely as individuals, but rather work with others to find solutions that work best collectively for the group. As long as I can remember, I have played on a variety of sports teams ranging from soccer, baseball, basketball, track, diving, and football to now my sport of choice, tennis. Throughout these years, the lesson I found most valuable is the importance of being a team player. Acting as a part of a team teaches commitment and leadership, builds character, shows one how to deal with responsibility and how to bring people together and ultimately help you achieve personal goals. During this Fall 2014 Varsity tennis season, I was the Team Captain, and was looking forward to facing tough opponents from the state’s best high school teams with my longtime doubles partner. As my coach was deciding the best pairings for the doubles teams, he put me in the lineup with 6 different team members throughout the season. Although this inconsistency during match play was personally daunting, I realized each time I was given yet another new doubles partner in a team competition, this was an opportunity to share my experience and leadership on the court by teaching my younger teammates how to deal with pressure and become a better player, and thus leaving my legacy for the team. At the end of season, I was awarded “Best Team Player” along with being named to the IHSTCA Indiana Boys Academic AllState Tennis Team. I learned that acting as a part of a team teaches commitment and leadership, builds character, shows one how to deal with responsibility and how to bring people together and ultimately helps achieve personal goals. To be an effective leader, I feel one must have initiative, confidence, flexibility, adaptability, and good communication. One must also be respectful,
prepared, educated, and organized to be a team player and a mentor to those under your leadership.
In my volunteer roles, I strived to exhibit all those leadership characteristics. I have applied this “team player” approach in other areas of my high school career. B y juggling my academic coursework, paid jobs at area restaurants and stores, my volunteer roles as Sound
Manager of the Floyd Central Theatre Department, Captain of the Floyd Central Varsity Tennis Team, peer tutor for the school’s Math Lab and participant with my church Youth Group ministries, I gained valuable time management and study skills that will be needed in college, as well as technical expertise that will help me with my engineering courses. I also gained knowledge by completing the summer engineering programs at the 2013 Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy, and
the 2012 University of Louisville Speed Engineering School Brown Forman INSPIRE program. Since
I am already able to troubleshoot problems and lead a team effectively, I think I will excel in my chosen field of Computer Engineering, since it is a team oriented
occupation. I feel that the lessons learned through my leadership opportunities in high school will benefit me in college, as a computer engineer and a future leader.
Thank you for consideration of my application and for your commitment to our nation’s college students.

The Law of Attraction

Rainey Boateng

It all started with a sorority my freshman year of college. We were supposed to be going to a party. I’ll add a little disclaimer sorority parties are nothing like the Greek fraternal gatherings of the opposite sex, they are usually somewhat more socially acceptable and cause much fewer problems with the neighbors. The ‘party’ that night was different from any of the others I had attended in the past. One of my sorority sisters had insisted that we all attend. She was beaming. “You guys have to hear this! It is amazing.” She said happily literally pulling us inside. We all kind of thought she was just being a little bit over zealous. “Okay, okay it can’t be all that good.” I remember saying as we entered the home of the girl hosting the get together. I was hoping it wouldn’t involve any game playing or moving around vigorously. I was in luck. The hostess had planned to have us all watch The Secret. I remember thinking oh, no I hope this isn’t one of those multi-level marketing schemes, luckily it was not. It was more like a lesson I had learned in Physics applied in a way I never thought possible.

I remember the moment the video ended and feeling elated. I wanted to take on the world and for all that I knew I could. I couldn’t wait to rush home and start my vision board. I am certain that what I experienced was an awakening. It felt as if my soul was reintroduced to the principles and truths of life that it had once known to be true, but had forgotten somewhere along the way. I felt free knowing that I could manifest the life I wanted to create.

In the years since watching The Secret I have found that the Law of Attraction has had a very meaningful impact upon my life. I have been craving adventure and found myself training for the bobsled and skeleton development teams at the Olympic Training Center in upstate New York. I always dreamed of travelling and ended up spending four years working abroad in the United Kingdom. I have visualized abundance and have found new better paying jobs and opportunities.

I recently had a resurgence of interest in the Law of Attraction after going through a challenging few months. My cousin was experiencing some of the same challenges I was and so we made a decision to visit a psychic together. I think we were both hoping that someone might be able to tell us that everything is going to be okay. It’s okay if you are single, or not where you want to be in your career everything is going to be okay.  You are in control. Sadly, that is not exactly what happened, and so I went to another psychic after my cousin left and heard some of what I wanted to hear but not exactly what I was looking for. I was frustrated to say the least that things weren’t going exactly as planned. I desperately wanted the reassurance that everything was going to go as I wanted and with little or no effort from myself. And of course that isn’t what happened either. What did happen was that when I listened to the recordings a few days later I heard in verbatim. “You are a powerful manifestor. What you want I am not currently seeing, but you have the power to create what you want in life.” And then it finally clicked. I had forgotten my own power. I and no one else control my future. I am the manifestor of my own destiny.

Suddenly I remembered the secret I had learned that day at the party, and I started looking into other resources around the topic of the Law of Attraction. One of the books the psychic suggested was, “The Work” by Byron Katie. I also came across other books such as, “The Spiritual Guide to Attracting Love,” “As a Man Thinketh,” by James Allen, and “The Power,” Rhonda Byrne among others. It has become an incredible journey. I have found that The Law of Attraction is more than just a one-time thing. It may seem obvious but like most human beings I have found that I need to be reminded and often of the power we all possess to create the life we want. It’s not enough to just read one book or watch one movie at a sorority and find a lifetime of inspiration. It takes constant vigilance and building the bridge of understanding one stone at a time, but I have also found that it is fun and it is magical and I love learning and doing, and as many times as I have seen The Secret that there is something new every time. I love that it is not exclusive and that it works for people of every faith, culture, background, and lifestyle.

There have been countless ways this work has changed my life, but in the past few months I have found that the most challenging, powerful, and beneficial way has been in challenging the positivity of my thoughts. It has been in truly understanding that thoughts become things, and that I can with reasonable amounts of intelligence and hard work, become a doctor, or live in the home of my dreams, or find the partner that I have always craved to find. I am the commander of my own ship, the leader of my own life, and the manifestor and creator of what the Universe provides me. Newton’s third law is true, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” For every thought we send to the universe for every positive action it can be returned to us and manifested, and for that I am ever so grateful.

Focusing on things you can control

Charlene Nensala
Bowie State University

Upon completing my under graduate degree in Elementary Education from Bowie State University; a defining moment occurred; hence, directing my occupational path in relation to the field of education. During the 2003-2004 school year, I obtained my first teaching position within a Title One Elementary School setting. Although my student’s chronological age indicated they belonged within the Second grade, their academic age equivalence stated otherwise. Over 60 % of my students read 1-2 years below grade level. I struggled as an educator to effectively teach the grade level language arts curriculum and provide students with accommodations commensurate with student’s dire instructional needs. At that juncture, I enrolled within a one month professional development course in literacy development and formative assessment training.  I was enamored with learning more extensively about customized instructional options for my underprivileged learners who were deficient particularly in the area of word recall, vocabulary development, sight word knowledge, and the application of comprehension strategies. Upon completion of the course, I immediately began implementing the knowledge received with my students. Consequently, their year-end quarterly assessment scores in reading improved remarkably by 70 percent. It was during that defining period I committed myself to further pursue the highest advanced degreed level training in relation to literacy education.

Academically, I aspire to become a Doctor of Education with a concentration in Reading Education.

Positive thinking

Elsa Arzu

Graduating from high school is considered a basic achievement, it is expected for everyone to make it out of high school. But what do they mean by everyone? With the lack of resources, money, transportation, daily survival struggle and time among minorities, high school is the least of our worries. Waking up each day thinking it is our last is the hardest part of all. Over the past six years, I’ve improved not only my life but also the life of others. I started off as a student without an opportunity who only engaged in petty activities to a community involved cofounder of a teenage enrich program and a three year high school graduate. It took a traumatizing change for me to turn my life around, it almost seemed as if it was too late. After a fight with an older girl, a gun was faced in my direction. I never knew that anything in my life could ever lead to this, I would watch the news and say that I was never going to get shot.  Luckily, I didn’t. But why did it matter at that time? My teachers told me that I wasn’t going to make it anyways.
      Not making it is not a surprise, however, everyone was indeed shocked to see me even make it as far as going to high school. My transition to high school allowed me to upscale my decisions and become more mature. My sister was the first black student to attend Harvard in our school and everyone expected better from me. Crazy enough that I did not know what better was. My sophomore year, my friend and I managed to make a teen outreach program called “Miami Youth Coalition” for troubled teens and help them with their personal problems, as well as give them a distraction from the “streets”. It made me grow as a person to see all of the hard work and improvement in others, I saw potential in everyone. I thought to myself, “If there’s still potential in them, there must be some in me.” My grades finally improved incredibly and I was granted with the chance of being promoted and eventually graduated with Summa Cum Laude (top 5%).
      My mother’s smile could not fit on her face and the tears did not stop rolling down as I walked across stage. She knew that there was something special about me that no one ever recognized, even I failed to see it. As a single parent, she encouraged me each day to do my best. For seventeen years, my mother was all I had. The transition to college hasn’t been easy (I left for the summer term). The first thing they warned us about was the loans, unfortunately, just to help my mother and beg my father to pay for my Summer and some of my Fall rent, I’ve had to take out two which amounted to $3,500. I find it unfortunate that the majority of money goes to athletes and not students that are very community involved, as well as fulfilling in academics. But, I tend to not focus on the negatives, I have managed to find the positive in every situation.
      What led to such great improvement in me was the idea of “Positive Thinking”. Growing up with so much negativity around you makes it tough to break out of the cycle. I continuously told myself that there is someone whose problem is bigger than mine. I refused to walk around each day like the world owed me life and began to live of what I had left. I knew that change started with no one else but me. There would be days that it will rain and instead of getting upset that my plans got cancelled, I smiled because rain is a natural beauty just like the sun. Stress, anger and depression began to disappear from my life, I started to enjoy helping others, it made me feel better about myself and the teenagers I worked with began to feel better about themselves as well. I began to attract the type of people that I wanted in my life, joyful and positive friends instead of the angry girls I spent my energy on.
       As a college student, I will continue to personally develop and have the best attitude when approaching any challenge. Positivity led me to where I am and the support of others has made me more appreciative of myself and the path I chose. As a current Criminology major, I plan on continuing the teen outreach program to help teenagers avoid the dangerous path that I took and give them the opportunities that I was detained from. I deserve this scholarship because I am successful, I was successful to make my way out of the ghetto and create uneasy goals for myself. I refused to be afraid of failure, it is indeed proven that only those that do not try fail.

The power of positive thinking

Kavita Singh

When my sister came home from college for the first time, it was right before Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving, my sister joined us for one of our elaborate breakfasts. While she was talking about her classes, I was turned around looking at the TV watching The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. I whirled around to take a bite from my bagel when I glanced at my sister. She looked visibly upset. “I’m not going to be a doctor,” she told my parents. They also looked visibly upset.
                They were quiet for a while, and I wasn’t old enough to comprehend that my parents weren’t upset at her. They were simply disappointed. Disappointment is something that I fear in life. I definitely fear failure, but disappointment is an aspect of life that terrifies me. 

I grew up in a very critical family.  When I was in 7th grade, my dad said I couldn’t make writing into a career. He tried making some football analogy, but I kind of got the message. My parents were disappointed when my sister went from wanting to be a doctor to pursuing physical therapy. They were also disappointed when my brother went from wanting to be a lawyer to mechanical engineering. So imagine how pleased my parents were when I told them I wanted to be a journalist.
                I have so many wild dreams. I want to create, produce, write and travel in my life. I’m constantly adding goals on my bucket list such as volunteering in another country, or writing a screenplay. My family is very conventional so I rarely express these goals. There’s a little part of me that doesn’t want to build up all these expectations just for them to be disappointed. 
                This fear of disappointment consumed me for a while. I doubted myself for most of my senior year where I was busy with random activities such as sports, volunteer work, and student council. Yes, I like being busy, but it wasn’t until college that I started learning some lessons of my own.
                First off, college was the first time that I was lonely. I’m used to being alone, but it was the first time that I was both alone and lonely. I had an established group of friends, but when they weren’t around there was something missing. I remember seeing a small poster about an on campus radio club that was having a meeting. I was scared as I walked into a room with no one that I knew. I kept telling myself that if it didn’t work out, I could simply leave the meeting. So as I nervously sat by myself, I saw from the corner of my eyes a girl walk in. She was by herself, but she had a confidence that I didn’t exhibit when I walked in. I smiled at her, and she immediately made eye contact and smiled back. To my sheer surprise, she plopped right down next to me and we started talking. Our conversation was so fluid and we both had risky majors and big dreams. When we finished training as a DJ, we walked back to our buildings, and I asked for her number. She texted me the next day, and we decided to do a show together. It was the first big risk I took in college and it paid off.
                There were so many things that I learned from this experience. First, this was my first real decision. While I kept myself busy in high school, I wasn’t doing anything that I was passionate about. I was just doing what felt like the right thing to do to make my parents happy. But as the radio meeting continued, I started planning topics that I wanted to discuss for my own show. For once, I was doing something that genuinely made me happy.
Second, confidence is essential in life. If I can’t make it, at least I can fake it. My friend told me later that she was so scared, but she wanted to be as open-minded as possible. That was something I needed. I needed to stop doubting myself all the time. That also meant the simple act of believing in myself. I think it was hard for me to believe in myself, when my parents didn’t.  It’s still really freaking hard to believe in myself when the general consensus doesn’t.
                However, it all comes down to positive thinking. Here I am with the potential to express myself in college through this amazing media outlet, but my fear almost took over and prevented me from doing it. So instead, I made an active choice to be positive. I could dwell on so many things about how my family doesn’t support my dreams.

Or I could prove them wrong. Yes, that is my silver lining. That’s what gets me through each day of college.

So, when I did do my radio show with my new friend, we had our friends and her family tune in and listen. Some people from my floor said they had listened, and that they loved our conversations. For once, I wasn’t really concerned of what people thought of me. I just went in with a positive mindset, and said what I wanted to on air. I cared less about pleasing people, and just voiced my own opinions. And I felt alive. It was the push I needed to be more confident with myself.  That is the power of positive thinking. Positive things will happen to positive people.

The power of positive thinking

Katherine Jeffcoat

The moment oxygen fills your lungs and you are forced to release the carbon dioxide from within you, you have entered this world we know as Earth. All these smiling faces looking down upon you with joy and wonder of what the future will hold. You have many moments like this being cared for by loving smiles and white luscious liquid. You enter a room and you create an atmosphere of love and beauty. What a beautiful world of smiles and caring eyes we live in. This is how we enter the world oblivious to the future that is in store for us. It is not as easy as one might seem or hope.
            From a young age I was bullied every day at school because of my weight. Comments shot like bullets through my chest every day. You would think after the millionth hit my body would be numb, but it wasn’t. Tears still fell like water falls from my eyes and depression consumed my world. What happened to the loving smiles and caring eyes and voices I once knew? After numerous years went by with constant fear of waking up to another day, I decided to finish this (well I thought).
             I came back from summer break that began my eighth grade year. That summer was different in a way than the rest. My summers were usually filled with tears and hopelessness but this one had something extra packed into it, Anorexia. I was unrecognizable and some looked astonished and some stood silent. Now the things they use to say to me cannot be said any longer. I was no longer obese. I thought this was the end to the sadness, but unfortunately the sadness morphed into other aspects of my life.
            My health was failing, my mental health. I was sent to treatment center after treatment center. My depression was bad, my anxiety swarm like angry bees, paranoia crept nearby, suicidal thoughts pounded in my head, binging kept me craving for more, and happiness, the thing I so desired was nowhere to be found, still.
            I missed out on my childhood, my middle school years, and most of my high school years fighting these monsters. My family lost their daughter. My parents saved my physical life and tried to save my mental life but that one is still being helped.
            Through my treatments I learned that recovery must come from within. You have to want recovery. It is very easy to let the monsters take over with their powerful voices and abilities but there came a time in my life, just recently actually, that I was tired of not living. I was tired of not having one happy memory to look back on. So my time came to take a stand.
            The mind is one powerful and complicated thing. My past is very much more in depth than that, but just think of the grudge and that was the thing inside me. Mental illnesses are more complicated than what is put out there as there definitions. Going back to the mind, if these illnesses can take over and control me so quickly and strongly what could I do to fight back so that I could find myself.
            At first I thought of this idea as insane, crazy, a lie to myself just to make myself feel better but it worked: using post it notes to write positive thoughts like, “you are beautiful,” “everything happens for a reason,” “you only have one life to live,” “you can be a voice to those that don’t have one,” “everyone is different so comparisons are not accurate or fair,” “my dog loves me and needs me,” “one bad thing does not make it a bad day or life.” After that I started saying them to myself and saying them out load. My mind started to turn and the mean voices weren’t so loud. It was weird at first but positive thinking has opened a new door that has never been opened before. I can see with my own eyes and know that life is going to have some downsides but the positive thinking on that issue can affect the way you respond and result in a better outcome.
            I am not here to say that it is easy. Some days are easier than others to keep up the positive thinking but with a smile, a sword, a shield and those positive thoughts, life blossoms into a pleasing reality. But I am here to say I am a much happier person with the positive thoughts that I have come up with (with my parents and therapists help). Say them, sing them, dance them, write them, and be them. The more you say them, the more you believe them and the more you will benefit from positive thinking just like I did.

Recovery, life, love, adventure, dream and live
Katherine Jeffcoat 

Neurons
A short poem by Katherine Jeffcoat:
A thought comes from the brain,
Where everything begins.
Make those thoughts be the positive thinking I mentioned. And from there it will begin.
Katherine Jeffcoat

My lifetime goal

Justin Causey
University of Texas

My lifetime goal has always been to become a physician, and I believe the choices I’ve made in the classroom, on the field, and in my community have brought me closer to that goal. Those choices have been based on a solid work ethic, a true enthusiasm and gratitude for the life I have been given, and a determination to succeed.  They have played a major role in shaping who I am today and have given me the skills to define who I will be tomorrow.

Choosing to participate in football is a commitment in and of itself.  Texas football is not like any other sport anywhere else in the country.  It is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports, especially at my alma mater, Smithson Valley HS. Pre-season training or “Boot Camp,” is a tremendously challenging few weeks geared toward teambuilding and mental tenacity.  During this time, our coaches pushed us to our mental and physical limits. The many exercises involve leadership, attention to detail, perseverance and teamwork – all of which I have learned well over the years and will capitalize on to help me achieve my future goals.   

Along with meeting the rigorous schedule of extracurricular activities, I began taking advanced courses as soon as they were available to me as Pre-AP classes in middle school, which taught me early on how not just to survive, but to thrive in a high-pressure stressful environment. I am proud that I was able to pass all my AP tests, achieving the status of “AP Scholar” from The College Board.  These accelerated classes have taught me that if you want to succeed in life, you cannot just take the path everyone goes down; you must reach higher and work harder in order to achieve your goals. I continued this path of academic success in my college career, earing a perfect 4.0 GPA and a spot on the prestigious Presidents’ List this past spring semester.

Participating in community service, allowed me to realize my desire to help people.  Involvement in clubs and organizations is a great way to hone one’s leadership skills, while most importantly, staying connected in your community and helping those in need.  Through my church’s Life Teen organization, I have been able to volunteer with the local senior center and assist with events such as many food drives and multiple Valentines Day dances. During my time assisting at the senior center, and recognizing their desire to stay healthy, I realized the needs of the elderly.  Helping people has always been something I wanted to do, and being involved in these organizations has led me to do that on a scale I could never have done on my own.  As I move forward in life, I want to continue to help others by becoming a doctor.

Following my dream and true passion of becoming a doctor is something that I plan to see through until this accomplishment is fulfilled.  I have wanted to be a doctor since I was four years old and had to undergo surgery for complications following a premature birth.  I survived due to the excellent care of my physicians, my parents’ dedication, and my own determination.  I know I can accomplish this goal too, as I have always completed and succeed in everything I have done.  Having the opportunity to attend The University of Texas at Austin is the ultimate to reach this goal and proceed onto Medical School.

I can accomplish anything

Veronica Salazar
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center 

The Law of Attraction has helped me to achieve finance, happiness, and personal development. I used to believe that things happened to you just by chance; well unfortunately I was never that “lucky” person. Throughout my life, I achieved personal gain by going to college and obtaining my bachelor’s degree while working in a full time job. Not only did I have to sacrifice family life but I had to work really hard in order to put food on table and a roof over our heads. This mentality of working hard led me to believe that I deserved only the best! I started to notice a pattern in my life that even though I had accomplished my goals, I was not happy with myself. That is when things started to fall apart for me. I began doubting myself in my quality of work and felt that I lacked in my professional skills. No matter how hard I worked at being the best, I kept getting pulled down by others’. What was happening to me? Was I a failure? How did it get to this point that I felt worthless? I started reading books on positive thinking and Law of Attraction. At first, I was not enticed at all by the subject; how can one be successful by just thinking it? Well desperate times called for desperate measures and there I was in my living room just reading about this Law of Attraction and how it could have a positive impact in my life. I also saw videos, one of them named, The Secret. It was a huge success all across the world, and even now from time to time I will watch the video; I love to hear stories about other people’s successes. 

In 2004, I began applying positive attraction in my daily life; as a single parent working full time and attending school full time, I needed some type of motivation. I gradually began shifting my thoughts to a positive one. Though I was not making the “desired” salary I had wanted, I still felt a self-accomplishment in my career. I was beginning to think positive, applying the Law of Attraction. So what exactly was Law of Attraction? It is meant to bring self-attraction of purely positive energy creating desired outcomes. I knew that it was just a matter of time before my desires would manifest and I would see a brighter future ahead. I would go into my room as it is my domain from a long day’s work, and sit there quietly with no interruptions; I would close my eyes and daydream of positive thoughts of successes, financial freedom, happiness, and all that is good. After about 30 minutes, I would feel a sense of positive vibes running through my whole body; I felt really good about myself. I would follow the same routine day after day: sit, relax, and daydream. I began noticing my life change, little by little, and started noticing the difference in my work, and even my self-worth as I built a self-confident attitude. My work began to improve in the quality as well as efficient workflow. I was able to manage without asking for guidance. How you are wondering? Because I applied the Law of Attraction, purely positive: in with the good and out with the bad.

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2005 and I knew that it was not just my hard work that I put into it, but the Law of Attraction which embodied me to be the person I was meant to be: strong, independent, hard-working, and successful. Now that I have my career at the pace that I want, I am ready for another milestone in my life, to obtain my MBA. I was beginning to feel that I could not do it because I am “too busy” for myself, but I was reminded by a fellow peer who also applies the Law of Attraction that I can do anything I set out to do. I have embedded this principle in my head so when I feel the urge to quit I can get back into gear and start working towards my goals and dreams. Even though I face obstacles in my life, I can quickly shift my thoughts into positive ones and apply what I have learned: The Law of Attraction.  There is no task too big or too small with this principle; I can accomplish anything. I can live out my dreams and pick the ones I want to keep and get rid of the ones I do not want.

Living by this principle has taught me the good in life and the good in people. I have helped others by educating them on the Law of Attraction and how it can work for them if they put their minds to it. Many have told me how it has helped them achieve success and they too have passed it on to others.

Focusing on what I can control

Tyler Ham

The world that I live in today is full of people pushing their agenda; they are filled with a vicious animosity towards others opinions and greater still, World Powers battle for control. Like any human being I too have my agenda, and there are times when standing for what I believe is right. In other situations, listening and being able to assess the situation before giving input are more important. Focusing on things I can control has been central in my life, especially as I’ve gotten through my first two years of college.

      The idea of focusing on things that I can control has a great deal of impact on my overall attitude towards life and the challenges that I face. First and foremost this principle reminds me that I do not have all the answers to life’s questions and I will not be able to solve every persons problems. I have a compassionate heart and when I hear of people suffering, whether it be those close to me, or children in another country, I want to get my hands dirty and solve problems immediately. In my own life I cannot get enough of being organized and addressing problems face to face. I thrive off of problem solving and making things right. If I don’t focus on things that only I can control I become a major nuisance to those around me. Focusing on other people’s problems can be seen as judgment from another’s point of view and this can really upset the people around me. Another big part of focusing on things I can control is keeping myself on task to do the things I want for myself. I am the last person I think about because I love giving my time to others and making sure that they are not in pain. I have big dreams, and if I ever hope to achieve the things I want I have to focus on controlling the things I can control.

My dad and his brothers grew up learning all about cars in my grandfather’s body shop. They knew all about the inner-workings of classic cars and repaired many cars in their young adult lives. They each had cars that would be worth tens of thousands of dollars today. As soon I was old enough to appreciate classic cars I developed an interest in old cars, specifically old, fast cars. Two years ago I bought my first classic car, a 1968 Cutlass Supreme, all original with a 350 Rocket engine. There was work to be done, but I was infatuated with the idea of rebuilding something with the help of my dad and my uncles. In the first few months of having the car I worked hard to scrape off the old paint and get my car ready to be repainted the original color, an aquamarine blue. I did various repairs here and there; I bought new wheels and tires, installed new shocks, and cleaned up the car really well. Three months in to my purchase the car was ready for the new paint. When I got the car back a few days later, I was on top of the world in a freshly painted muscle machine. As the year went by, things began to wear out. I had rubber hoses that keep coolant running to the engine to cool it off as it runs that burst and sprayed coolant all over the engine causing smoke to come rolling out of the engine bay. My carburetor, part of the fuel delivery system within the engine stopped working, leaving me stranded on the side of the road. Among other things theses two circumstances were enough to deplete my bank account of money, and frustrate me because I was stuck not knowing what could happen next. After all, I’m not a mechanic and I don’t claim to be. One thing I wish I would have discovered before buying this old car was that I either needed to have extra money to repair things that went wrong, or knowledge of how to fix things that went wrong on my own. The frustration I felt was due to the fact that I had no idea what I was doing when it came down to the mechanics of a car. I figured that problems with my car would be few and far between, but I was wrong. I began to focus on the things I could control. I could make money to help pay for the repairs, so I found other forms of income. As I recognized there were things that needed to be done I made the adjustment to accommodate the problem. Focusing on things that I could do to make things easier on my mind helped. I also started to learn more things about old cars. I looked up things that I would need to do next before things went wrong and then I researched how to fix them. I found friends that knew more about cars than I did and they helped me to fix more parts of the car.

I learned two things from my classic car experience, that an old car can be difficult to maintain, and that I could make things easier on myself by focusing on what I can control. I hope to apply my new knowledge of this idea to my studies in the future. I know that in whatever situation I find myself this idea can help me to reassess the negative possibilities to make the outcome in my favor.

How the power of positive thinking has affected my life

Ato Ribeiro

Over the next couple years, I am determined to develop and maintain a disciplined professional studio routine for channeling my creative juices, enabling me to produce new artwork everyday. This is a key objective that I will continue to exercise for the rest of my life. With that being said, now that I have confirmed my accepted to the Department of Print Media at the prestigious Cranbrook Academy of Art, receiving a MFA from this unique graduate program will aid me in developing a more holistic art experience, through fusing my artistic strengths to create a new identity for my craft that I will use for years to come.  

When asked which medium I work in, I have become accustomed to replying “Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpture and Graphic Design,” and that must stop. Through my graduate experience I intend to investigate various ways to fuse my strengths, creating countless bodies of work that share a unified theme that speaks for me. By converging my skills in these various mediums, I will resolve how to successfully promote patriotism while addressing pressing social issues through installations that further stimulate human senses such as sound, smell and possibly even taste. How cool would it be to recreate the experience of spending time in a tranquil and shockingly well insulated traditional Ghanaian mud hut, while a pot of peanut soup simmers on top of a small charcoal grill? Or meander through a claustrophobic space lined with fingernail scratches along the walls, while the lingering smells of sweat, sea salt, gun powder, and bat guano are overpowering. Just as it was before approaching the Doors of No Return in the Elmina or Cape Coals slave castles, except being located in the middle of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. By joining this community of problem solvers whom exercise thinking outside of the proverbial box, I intend to endure a graduate school experience that I would never regret, and will add substance to the development of my professional artistic career. 

I attained a BA in Studio Art from Morehouse College with the help of priceless constructive feedback that I received from great mentors and art contemporaries such as Christopher Hickey, Fahamu Pecou, Sanford Biggers, and the late Frank Toby Martin. Under their tutelage, I adopted practices such as focusing less on my finished product and more on my processes of creation, allowing my work over the last five years to transform from solely 2D works to exploring countless new ways in which I can engage my audiences within a 3D space. Along with my creative growth, I was heavily active in communities, art clubs, and projects such as serving as artist liaison for the recent Art on the Atlanta BeltLine project. 

During my matriculation at Morehouse, I am also proud to have been Bonner Scholar, dedicating an average of 11-15 hours per week towards serving the community. This scholarship achievement was my undergraduate blessing in more ways than one. Who knew that through service, financing my private undergraduate degree would become far more feasible.  Under the guidance of many professors, service leaders and members of the community, I have and will continue to explore dynamic ways to merge my artistic talents with my moral obligation to serve others. Service has been a practice that I started exercising in high school through volunteering across the Sandy Springs community to paint murals, assist in fund raising campaigns, and even market for a candidate who ran for Mayor. 

While at Morehouse I found other ways to serve, such as teaching at the Harlem Children Zone, mentoring in Atlanta Middle Schools, founding and serving as President of the W.E.B. Dubois International Dorm (Morehouse’s first international student freshmen dorm), helping as Morehouse College’s Ambassador to the Westview Community, and spearheading the Westview Community Garden. Through practicing community service over the years, I have adopted many useful tools that continue to aid my growth as a fine artist, such as accomplishing larger goals through persistently overseeing and nurturing smaller ones.

I am a firm believer in the concept that every experience in life is valuable to that individual’s personal and professional growth. With my professional experience in a corporate setting over the last two years as Digital Marketing Coordinator of Landtours Ghana and Avis Rent-A-Car Ghana, I have been able to improve my web and graphic design skills, along with finding better ways to manage projects within the confines of strict deadlines. As a result, this experience has armed me with the confidence to manage my professional online presence, however I still have a lot to learn with regards to my writing skills. Being able to coherently document my work’s progression through generating enticing written content on various platforms, as well perfecting the art of drafting excitingly unique grant proposals etc. are all tools that I will encompass in the next two years. I intend to become less dependent on others to chronicle my art’s progression, and constructive critiques with artists sharing similar goals such as those enrolled at Cranbrook Academy will allow my classmates and I to investigate ways for all of us to become more proficient in our writing skills. 
Further more, you could only imagine my surprise after stumbling across this scholarship opportunity asking to reflect on how the power of positive thinking has affected my life. This is a practice that has molded my blessed life into what it is today. Each year, I write down positive affirmations in the format of a short essay such as this one, identifying specific goals in my life that I intend on accomplishing before the year’s end. With that being said, I intend to use this and many other awards to finance my graduate investigations of exploring more stimulating means of creating and showcasing my artwork without incurring any further student loans. To accomplish this, I have set out on numerous campaigns intended to finance my graduate school expenses such as participating in various art competitions like the l’Atelier Art Competition in South Africa, which I was recently qualified into the finalist round. I have also set up several platforms such as my website, where I will create artwork in return for private donations above specific amounts. These are all examples of things in my control that have and will continue to be done to aid my artistic growth, allowing me to be the greatest artist that I can be. Through earning this award, I will progress one step closer to achieving my 2016 goal of covering my entire 2 year graduate education costs without incurring any additional student debts.

Attitude of Grattitude

Alim Wooden
Georgia Southern University

I am a senior attending Georgia Southern University, studying mechanical engineering and reaching the end of my undergraduate career. My dream is to become an engineer like the myth busters because that seem to have time and resources to make whatever they want, whenever they want. My plan to achieve that goal was to get into Georgia Tech and research with their robotics department. Over the time spent at the University, I learned a lot and a couple of major changes took place. Going into college as a freshman, like all other freshman, I was trying to find a place to fit in and just a few friends to call my own. It just so happened that my roommate in my four person dormitory was my best friend from high school so I was one of the lucky ones. We both loved video games and had mediocre grades coming out of high school so this was about to be a really fun year, grades wasn’t even on our minds. Also the first year was the year that I received the most Pell Grant, social security funding, and a scholarship from a family friend so stress was at an all-time low.
            The first year ended in a tragedy. So many bad habits formed from playing excessive video games, going out to bars, skipping classes, not studying, and going against myself to make acquaintances that I thought were friends. The typical mistakes of a modern college freshman. Even worse me and my friend stopped talking to each other over an altercation that year, my GPA was low already, and I felt worse about myself and didn’t make all but about 10 friends that I took for granted. Not knowing what I had, I kept thinking this is exactly like high school and started to drink more because I had the freedom, money, it was cheap and easy, and everyone else was doing it, but even though I wasn’t raised that way and it felt off I continued anyways.
            Slowly blessings began to fade away. I received significantly less Pell Grant and no extra financial help so I had to take out a loan, started working out hardcore and destroying my body, and was drinking more. A typical college student that I hoped I would never be. I was nowhere near on the path of my reaching my dream. A combination of growing financial stress, my friend dropping out of school, and being in my head too much led to two consecutive years of bad habits, bad health, and bad grades. My hopes of getting into Georgia Tech was fading away and I had one semester to fix it all.
            The beginning of my senior year was the year that everything started changing around because I decided that being unhappy is not what I want to be. The dean of the engineering college made it apparent to me, by contacting me through a personal call, that I had one last chance to make it into Georgia Tech through one semester of all A’s in Math and Science classes. I knew that I had to make a few changes to my lifestyle and that I did, greatly improving my perception and made me happy and appreciative of all the blessings around me. First it started by praying and getting into the attitude of gratitude. It just so happened that I got in my senior I ended up in the traditional dorms which was an extreme downgrade to what I was living in the previous three years and no roommate so it was, I used to joke around, the cell to myself. I started observing my friends and the people around me and through lots of conversation I figured out that most of the students and even professors were just like me. Then I started realizing that I was actually in a really great situation given my recent let downs and started saying prayers of thanks for everything and everyone that has helped me before every meal. Then instead of listening to music, I started listening to audio books form authors like Brian Tracy and Jack Canfield and became determined to get straight A’s to catch the last chance to make it into Georgia Tech.

These two practices alone greatly improve my attitude and relationship with people. Then I started wondered what else can I do to make this dream happen. So I started running and doing light fitness workouts to get back in shape and heal the damage I was doing to my body. Then I started eating one or two meals a day to gain more energy. Then before I knew it I was pulling 8-12 good hours of study with time left over to read and get a good 7 hours of sleep each day. By the end of the first semester I got all A’s but sadly even this wasn’t enough to boost my GPA to meet the standard of the Georgia Tech transfer program but I wasn’t sad but actually happy with my accomplishments and grateful for anyone that helped along the way. Second semester of senior rolled around and I continued the streak making all A’s in the next year and even joined two extracurricular activities giving my practical application to my studies.

This is my fifth year now and even though I didn’t make it to Georgia Tech I got a year of all A’s, new relationships, a renewed work ethic, a new goal, and most importantly a clearer head and understanding that being positive and not taking what you have for granted combined with hard work for what you what can get you anything even if not by your desired plan. I learned my lessons and today I am now an intern at Panasonic Automotive Systems of America and looking to do bigger things in the future.

Healer heal thyself

Jessica Mills
Community College of New Mexico  

When I was a child and adults asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I answered each time, “I want to change the world.”  Each time the adult I was speaking with laughed told me that I was young, and that would change in time. But it did not. I continued to grow and learn, and as I did, I dedicated each of my resources to helping others who were in need. In high school, I ran a small unofficial business which booked and promoted local bands, while taking an equal cut of the evening’s earnings and donating them to local charities. Immediately upon graduating from high school, I left to Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana for a month to work with Emergency Communities. I lived in a tent while I helped to develop an emergency childcare facility to families in need in a time where all resources were missing from the town. I returned and began to work with children and assisted a number of displaced youth in finding resources they needed during the time that they were passing through Albuquerque.
            But as my efforts on their behalf increased, I hit more roadblocks. One night, after opening my home to a young group of traveling boys, one of them had a psychological break followed by a lengthy seizure. I sat on my floor, uncertain what to do or how to help him. He was only 19, had no health insurance and no family to speak of. His friends forbade me to call an ambulance due to financial concerns. I did not have the resources or knowledge to help in a sustainable way. I sat with him until he awoke, and the next morning, they were gone to continue traveling.         

This was a moment of clarity for me. For some time following this experience, it occurred to me that I was attempting to build a foundation to help others out of nothing more than hay, and sacrificing myself in the process. I took a long look at myself. I had not finished college because I felt I had no idea what I would do. I was working as a preschool teacher which I knew would not provide me the financial stability I needed. I was living in a tiny casita which was small and infested with cockroaches. I had no way to truly help others because I was not helping myself.  It was time for me to put the focus on my own life and the things I could control. I formulated a plan that would enable me to work towards an undergrad in psychology and would provide me the tools necessary to both provide for myself and truly help to change the world in a sustainable way. I knew this change had to start from within. I changed my living situation, began working a new job that would help to pay for my education, and started to move forward. I was excited and had a plan.
            And then, on the cusp of continuing my education, my grandfather died. Within months my grandmother died also. My mother, the only child and single caretaker, was bereaved and fell into a year long depression. To make matters worse, at the end of this year she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Once again, I put my plans for school aside and cared for her in the best way I knew how. But I began to struggle with anxiety and depression, myself. Rather than feeling inspired by my prior plan, it felt a burden that I had not continued with it. I was consistently hard on myself for not having finished my education. I was overwhelmed by the events that seemed to always stand in the way. After my mother was treated and declared cancer-free, I threw myself in to my job as a Child Care Worker with children with severe emotional trauma, inside of a residential treatment setting. It was the precise direction I needed.


I worked to help children override unhealthy patterns of interacting and reacting as a therapeutic milieu team member. I was provided access to new knowledge. In seven months, I was promoted to Supervisor where I now, three and a half years later, train a team of professionals, run an operational milieu, communicate with community members, family members and therapists to create and implement ICMPs, IEPs, and treatment plans through a neurologically informed, attachment based model. I help children learn how to be healthy in their relationships and with themselves. I finally found the direction I sought as well as the resources I needed to make a difference in the world. Here, I learned some skills.
            First, I learned that there was always going to be something happening outside of one’s control that, if allowed it to, will affect personal circumstances. Many of the children I work with had childhood trauma which was not their fault, but the effects were now in their control to change. They, like me, had to choose. Watching them inspired me. If I wanted to help others, I had to first help myself. Much like them, if I wanted to help myself I had to focus on the things I could control. And the number one things I could control were the words I chose to say when I spoke to myself.
            I began to monitor my thoughts and how consistently I was an opposing force to my own life progressing. I noted how often I told myself that I could not do something, or how daunting it would be. I reminded myself that I had seen the impossible become possible in the milieu. I decided that I had to work smarter, not harder. I challenged these beliefs, rose up, and faced my fears slowly. I began to speak kindly to myself, to use encouraging words instead of devaluing ones. I reminded myself that I was worth self-care.
            Through this, I learned that my education was imperative to my self growth and also to taking the next step towards helping these children. I learned that I could accomplish it, regardless as to what was occurring externally.  I taught myself that instead of beating myself up for having not done it yet, I could simply do it and be kind to myself in the process. This was in my control. I have accomplished enough in my life to know that anything is possible. I have seen enough hopeless children and families do so. I now know that I need to continue to access my resources, and take care of myself. I know I accomplish this, regardless as to what may come my way.

With your help, receiving the Achieve Today Scholarship will allow me to place my focus on bettering myself and the lives of others while maintaining the milieu and working on my undergraduate education. It is a balance, dedicating one’s life to others while also dedicating it to one’s self. I am certain that your assistance in this powerful task is greatly appreciated, by all who have been offered it, and I look forward to the same opportunity.

Focusing on things you can control

Megan Adcock
University of Southern California

There are many things in life that can make us unhappy, that can make us worry or cause us some anxiety, and this is where the personal development principal of focusing on the things you can change (rather than the things you have no control over) comes in. Using this particular development skill has really changed my life for the better, and while it is still a work in progress every day, I continue to make strides.

I have been living with acute anxiety since I was very young, the first instances I can remember date back to when I was about six years old. While this has lead to many days of worrying, many sleepless nights, two major breakdowns, three different therapists my family could not afford, (and that I hated too) and also different medications prescribed to help, I decided that I needed to find out my way of coping.

While I am generally a very happy person on the outside, (and usually the inside reflects that too) I still always have a lot of anxiety and worry going on under the surface that I try to (at least) keep at bay. Some people have asked me how I can stay so positive about things, and I tell them that since I suffer from anxiety, and never found any help outside myself that worked, I had to come up with certain methods and go about them in my own personal way. This, among one or two other things, includes not worrying about the things I cannot affect or change, realizing that what will happen will happen and I just have to figure out how to deal with it when it does. Also, and above all, focusing on the things that I personally can control, and making sure that if there is something I can do about it, I do my absolute best at it, so not only can I sleep at night with the knowledge that I did everything I possibly could that was in my power to do, that if something does happen, I can rest easy.

Thinking positive, but especially focusing on things that I actually have the power to change/control has really helped me calm down, and I am now down to the lowest dose of anti-anxiety medicine I have ever been on! I would like to now outline the things that really make this work for me personally: the first way is how I changed my thinking. I did this by thinking positive, (this is where one of the other personal development principles really interconnects with this one), thinking of the best outcome, and also, even though this may sound counter-intuitive, I also think of the worst outcome and instead of panicking, I think of how I will react and deal with that situation if it comes up. Next, I focus. I focus on the part of the problem that I think I can tackle/deal with myself, and not focus on or worry about what others may be doing and also anything that is not in my power to do. After this, I realize that if I can really, really do nothing about a situation or conflict, I take three deep breathes, think of something that makes me smile, and go on from there. I also try to put everything into perspective, and try not to sweat the small stuff, because taking a step back and thinking about whether this is something I can do anything about in the first place is always helpful with perspective, and if there is nothing, I make a firm note to myself that there is not and carry on. One last thing that I remind myself is that thinking so much about it will get me nowhere, especially if I cannot control it; on the other hand, if I can control it, I just need to put in place the actions I need to take to control it, and wait for the outcome without stressing over whether it worked or not. Because after all, I have done all I can do in a positive way, efficiently in a timely manner, so if I keep obsessing over it, it will just drive me crazy, and that sure does not help anyone. And finally, reminding myself that I do control my own thoughts and emotions, and that is the first step to making sure that I actually try to control them, and realizing I can do nothing to control other peoples thoughts and emotions.

All in all, focusing on the things I personally can control has made a big impact on my life. I have learned to let go a little, to not worry so much, because if there is something I can do about it I set about doing it, and make sure I put my best effort into it so that if it ends up going wrong, I still do not need to worry. And if there is nothing I can do (which is so often the case with so many scenarios in life) then I do not let it control me or take over my mind. This has really put a different spin on how I look at things, and has made me much more easy-going and all around better at life.

One thing we must control before it controls us

Erin Hatt
University of Phoenix

“It’s a miracle you’re normal!” I cannot count how many times I have heard this in my life; people say it to me as soon as I start explaining my story. “How can you come to work every day, smiling and caring so much about people after you’ve experienced everything that you have been through? I don’t know how you do it.” I tell people it is all about the attitude. When we find something to be thankful for, something positive even in our hardships, we can overcome almost anything!
            Up until the time I was nine years old, my home life was far from ideal. My father had problems with alcohol abuse and both my parents had substance abuse issues. When my dad drank, he became violent. Almost every night, he would physically abuse my mom when I was trying to sleep. My mom had no release for her physical and emotional pain, so she would abuse me. I always promised myself I would do everything I could to not make her angry when I got home from school, but nothing I did worked. She would get mad at me and physically abuse me. One day when I was in second grade, my mom left. I have twin brothers who have autism who just added to my father’s anger because they never slept through the night and we could never control them. My mom left the boys at a neighbor’s house and left for Florida with one of my great uncles.
            My mom called on Christmas Day and said she was coming home. I do not remember the day or month that she left, but Christmas is her birthday so I told her I wished she was home so I could make her a cake in my new Easy Bake Oven. She did come home, but only to get some of her things. A few weeks later, she was gone again. She came home permanently, but only when she offered my dad an ultimatum: she would only come home to stay if he quit drinking. He agreed and quit cold turkey, nothing short of a miracle itself. I am grateful for this experience because I saw firsthand the effects of alcohol on a family and on an individual. I know I need to be careful with alcohol because alcoholism runs in both sides of my family. I am grateful that my father quit drinking when he did because he did a complete 180 when he stopped. Our home life got a lot better after he quit drinking.
            Life became as normal as it could until my sophomore year in high school. I began developing severe abdominal pains, nausea, and other symptoms. I had dozens of health tests and we received no results, so I was a mystery. I missed a lot of school, but somehow kept my grades up and remained at the top of my class. I am thankful for the support I received from my teachers, friends, and family during that time. So many people helped me, doing whatever they could to help me feel better and make sure I had everything I needed when I was too sick to get out of bed. We never found out what was wrong during the year or so I was ill, but I am happy my digestive system is mostly back to normal today.
            At the end of my junior year, my family decided to move to Florida. My dad went to college in Daytona Beach and he thought my family could get a new beginning if we moved. I was not excited for the move because I was leaving seventeen years of my life behind. I had a lot of friends, I had great grades and loved my high school, and I was volunteering at a nursing home on weekends, always the highlight of my week. I had people offer rooms in their homes so I could stay, but I felt it was important for me to move so I could support my family. We moved to Florida in April of 2004 with the money we had from selling our house in Connecticut. We lived in a nice apartment down the street from the “world’s most famous beach,” the epitome of paradise. However, it took too long for my parents to find jobs in Florida and my job at the local ice cream shop did not even begin to put a dent in the bills. In December 2004, we were evicted from our apartment. Thankfully, we learned about an organization called Family Renew Community. Family Renew had three locations to house homeless families to help them get back on their feet. Our family moved into a two room cottage so I could finish my senior year. I got a job I loved at a library down the street, something I never would have gotten if we did not move. I met a lot of wonderful people in Florida and the six months we were homeless were an enlightening experience. People often think that being homeless is the lowest point you can reach, but it was a blessing in disguise. I learned a lot about family and true friendship during that time. It made me a stronger, more empathetic person.
            I have to admit that life is great now. Although I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, I feel thankful for my accomplishments and all the things I have experienced. I am almost done with my Bachelor’s degree and will begin my Master’s degree soon after I complete my Bachelor’s. I have an amazing job and boyfriend, a cute little house, and so much to be thankful for.

One thing we must control before it controls us

Maria Luisa Alago, B.S., M.A., (DM, Candidate)
University of Phoenix

Eastern and Western ancient and modern educators realized the power of knowledge, as control measure.  Teachers from the East and the West, throughout history, have identified the cause of unethical behaviors:  Uncontrolled thoughts.  Thoughts control the words; words control the actions; actions control the habits, which ultimately become one’s destiny (Aristotle, 384-322; BCE; 1962; Tzu, 6 BCE).  Other teachers, focused on modeling mandated top-down prescribed codes of conducts, such as the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule (Jesus, 33 AD; Bible, KJV).  A few, such as the modernists, advocated for relativism, leading to nihilism (Foucault, 2003, 2010; Nietzsche, 2011).

From an early age, I learned that the only thing that one can control, are one’s most inner thoughts, indeed.  Growing up in a dysfunctional family, my thoughts were adroit escaping tools.  During my grade school, I had the good fortune to discover the library.  After a few enchanting visits, I realized that books, magazines, encyclopedias, and journals were wells of knowledge.

The library was a panacea of enriching source for nurturing the consciousness and unconscious within the brain with new information, data, insights, ideas, words, concepts, techniques, illustrations, and abstractions.  For instance, they incited the imagination with creativity to escape into a happy place of my own.  At an early age I had mapped out my lifelong dreams.  I dreamed of becoming financially independent.  I dreamed of owning a plush farm in the woods.  I dreamed of having a charming spouse and two children, forget the half.  And as a caveat I visualized earning the highest academic degree my potential would allow me, even that the odds were against me in the form of extreme poverty.

My yet to be fulfilled lifelong dream has been to complete a doctorate to scaffold a platform to self-actualize and help others to develop to their maximum potential.  With a surplus of personal setbacks, which I had no control over, I had to postpone my goal, by placing the needs of others ahead of my own.  Technological breakthroughs in communication empowered me by opening the doors to online education.  Consequently, I had the opportunity to step outside of my paradigm and pursue my dream by traversing the door of online education (OE).

Online education (OE) is my platform to aid leaders and educators whom in turn empower the workforce as moral agents. OE granted me freedom after a lifetime of caring for ill parents, younger siblings, a husband, and three offspring’s.  My oldest was born disabled, a casualty of my spouse's exposure to agent-orange.  We also had a set of premature twins. After facing so many hurdles my dream marriage collapsed, which perhaps I had not fully controlled. Caregiving and putting my life on the line in a public service career preceded my OE. OE enabled my lifelong pursuit of a coveted doctoral degree, while I had the privilege to care young adult disabled offspring.

During the doctoral journey, I have invested over $80,000 of student loans and my lifetime savings towards the degree, with countless hours of research and lack of sleep.  Just as I was two courses away from completing the program, my mother became terminally ill, which I had no control over.  I had to travel thousands of miles to care for her, arranged her burial, and mourn her departure.

After a lengthy Sabbatical, upon which I had no control, I intended to complete my research study and data analysis.  My committee recommended me that I secure the services of a statistician, and an editor, at a substantial cost.  After paying for the technical experts tutors my personal upkeep, my mother’s household bills, my funds and borrowing credit power were exhausted.  My FICO plummeted overnight, and I had no control over it. I am required to register prior to submission for the final institutional quality review of the completed dissertation, and my drop-dead graduation deadline is fast approaching, without my control.

The title of my dissertation is: Increasing Emotional Intelligence and Moral Reasoning through Andragogy: A correlational study.  I did had full control of how I named it and the Alago’s andragogical model.  News and social media have exposed the rise of unethical behaviors.  Many of those unethical acts had rippled global consequences.  For examples economic crisis, food wars, ethnic cleansing, and conspiracy theories.  Also governments’ abstractions, sexual harassment, rise in terrorism, bribery, and implosion of organizations, such as Enron (Janszen, 2010; Karaibrahimoğlu et al., 2009).  Recent literature findings support that, the adult human brain is pliable.  The brain can grow neural connections. Thus emotional intelligence and moral reasoning are augmentable with customized andragogical education, age, and experience (Moll, Oliveira-Souza, & Eslinger, 2003).

After securing some funds to enroll in the final course, submit the dissertation for the quality review, conduct the oral defense, and publish my work, I will promote my Alago’s andragogical model.  The model will aid leaders and educators to design customized curricula for public, private, for-profit, and non-profit organizations empowerment development.  The Alago's andragogical educational model depends on second-order learning, cognitive moral development, and emotional intelligence enhancements (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005, Covey, 2010; Kohlberg)  Also, the neo-Kohlbergian theory (NKT) (Rest, Narváez, Thoma, & Bebeau, 2000).  NKT explains the mechanism to store experiences, in the brain's amygdala.   Environmental stimuli are detected, translated, and stored as an antecedent mental schema of emotions.  The schema helps the individual to associate present experiences with the fly or fight reflex for survival (Argyris, 2012; Rest, Narváez, Thoma, & Bebeau, 2000).  In the case of mental role playing future experiences may be assessed and measured to the antecedents, theoretically (Alago, 2015).

Vested with the newly gained knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences, and freedom I am confident that I will be able to provide global face-to-face and online programs, workshops and seminars to empower participants.  The mechanism is the design of pragmatic adult education curricula under the principles of andragogy (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2005).  My learned knowledge, skills, and discoveries have pragmatic applications.

My goal is to incite individuals’ imaginations, promote dialog in communities of practice, provide insights to policymakers, influence transformational leaders, guide psychologists, instruct educators, and motivate individual seekers.  The coveted ideal is to enable the workforce to become moral agents.  Moral agents have potentialities, character, and knowledge to safeguard civilizations for the sustainment and survival of humanity.  Moral agents are empowered beings.  As such, they understand the route to happiness.  Enroute to happiness all demographical and environment factors cannot be controlled.  The only controllable factor at any point in the development journey is the thoughts.  Subsequently, monitoring emotionally charged words, may lead to bias actions.  Good actions will foster good habits, which influence the moral agents’ destiny (Alago, 2015; Aristotle, 384-322 BCE; Tzu, 6 BCE).

One thing we must control before it controls us

Sarah Bellin
University of Phoenix

Earning a degree can be very costly, thats why no one in my family has ever received a college education. I'm the first one in my family to even attend college and thats all because when I was a little girl my Mom and Dad started a college fund for me, it wasn't very much but it was a start. Growing up my family never had a lot but both my parents gave me everything they could to make sure I was happy. My parents also taught me the value of money, they gave me a piggy bank and told me to save $5. It took awhile as I didn't have a job and the only way I earned money was with loose change around the house or the dollar or two my Grandpa would give me for helping him out. Once I saved that $5 my parents sat me down and told me they were going to take that $5 and put it in a college fund for me, at first I was upset because only being 8 years old I could've bought myself some candy or a small toy. After they explained to me that it would be worth saving and that in 10 years I would get it back. Once I entered High School and started learning more in depth about college I soon realized how expensive it would be for me to attend a 4 year University. I knew my parents couldn't afford to pay for tuition and all the other fees of college. That summer when I turned 16 I got my first job at McDonalds, every pay check I saved every penny but once school started again I had to quit to focus on getting good grades so I could get into a good school. My senior year of high school the most devastating event of my life thus far happened, my Mom was laid off from her work. We started to fall behind on bills which meant they had to start using some of my college funds to make sure we could keep a roof over our head, before we knew it my college fund was gone. This meant I wasn't going to be able to attend a 4 year, this meant I was not going to get my Bachelors, this meant I wasn't going to be the first person in my family to go to college. It was devastating for me and my parents, they worked so hard to make sure I was going to be able to go to college but now I wasn't. The year after high school I attended a local community college that FASFA fully covered but the issue was overcrowding, I was taking unnecessary classes because the ones I needed were always full. After a year I eventually dropped out and started working full time and started saving for college again. I never wanted to give up on my dream of completing school but wasting my time at a community college wasn’t getting me anywhere. Thats when I found University of Phoenix, its a online University thats half the price of a regular University but I still get the quality education that I would anywhere else. I will now be receiving my Bachelors in Business Management with a Certificate in Project Management. My overall goal after I earn my degree is to work with The Walt Disney Company in the Disney Parks. Disney has always been a big part of my life so I would love to work for them as a manger or even a high up in Disney. I am so grateful that my parents from a young age taught me about the value of an education but like many, I’m struggling financially to pay for it. I want to make my parents proud by becoming a successful person that all their hard work wasn’t for nothing. I feel like everything is slowly being taken away from me though. After filling out an education expense form it'll tell you exactly how much federal aid you will receive and how much loans you will receive during your time in school. The only problem I have is I'm $15,000 short of financial aid that I need to finish school. I have a couple thousand saved up now but that will only cover this school year. So anything would help me greatly. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story.

History has taught me to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty, regardless of the challenges

Olivia Brophy

My family has always been active in the community – from Scouting to serving food to the homeless. During high school, I formalized my volunteer activities by completing a volunteer project in children’s literacy that required over 400 hours of commitment.  For this, I received the Gold Congressional Award Medal. Additionally, I served a plethora of nonprofit organizations through the National Charity League, South Placer Chapter, and spending a week in Mexico volunteering with my school. Finally, I tutored fellow students in middle and high school in a variety of subjects through the Academic Support Class at my high school. My college choice, Saint Mary’s College of California, has many opportunities for volunteer work. By actively participating in the monthly “Saturday of Service” and annual “Jan Term”, I will be allowed to build upon my volunteer work performed during high school.

Over my schooling career, I have helped to tutor many students with varying needs and for various reasons. As a third grader, I helped not only younger students learn to read and write, but also a classmate who had immigrated from Ukraine. This was my inspiration to select children’s literacy as my focus for my community service hours for the Gold Congressional Award Medal. I worked alongside a librarian to develop library displays and created resource folders for parents and patrons to inspire literacy in children. I took these resources to work with me when I volunteered at a preschool incorporating “Mother Goose on the Loose” over the course of two summers. This incorporation of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition alongside relevant literature made literacy child’s play! The skills I developed while working with preschoolers included patience, perseverance, and adapting to multiple modalities of learning. These would be expanded upon later in high school.

As a member of National Charity League, I had the opportunity to work with a variety of charities. One of my favorite groups to work with was the Special Olympic of Northern California.  The athletes taught me that a simple, “You can do this” or “I am so proud of you” was the easiest bridge to connecting two people.  No matter how long it took them to cross the finish line, they never gave up and the smile that accompanied their accomplishment was infectious. The athletes I crossed paths with through this organization inspired me to confront my shyness with the same courage and determination they displayed in the athletic arena. It is my hope all the amazing athletes I met have an idea about how critical they were in helping me express myself with the confidence of an Olympian.

Their inspiration didn't stop there - my volunteer work took me to Mexico as a foreign exchange student with my school. Leading up to my departure last summer, I was able to use my experience with Special Olympics of Northern California to convince our student group to volunteer with Los Olímpicos Especiales in Merida, Mexico.  I knew how inspiring and accepting the athletes had been here in the U.S., and I believed that our working with a similar group in Mexico - where we were required to speak in Spanish - would be the perfect organization to continue building bridges between people regardless of culture or citizenship. As a result of my experience, I trained my peers on how to interact with athletes - from how to communicate with both verbal and nonverbal persons to recognizing sensitivities based on body language to knowing when to ask for assistance from an adult. This was put into action when we visited a children's hospital, and while my peers went off in groups of two, I was able to go off on my own to work with the athletes and event organizers because I had the confidence necessary to do so. As in the U.S., there were many “Puedes hacerlo” and “Estoy orgulloso de ti” comments as well as high fives and hugs. My peers had no idea how rewarding and inspiring this experience was until our time was over, and it was time to go home.

These experiences culminated in my opportunity to volunteer with our school’s Academic Intervention Specialist. I have come to regard the time I spent tutoring in Ms. Amira’s Academic Support Classes, as well as during Advisory and Enrichment, as some of the most fulfilling. The magnitude of the effect of this experience stems largely from the fact that it developed organically, not from previous thought or planning.

Working with my fellow students, all of a variety of ages and abilities, on almost every subject offered at Western Sierra Collegiate Academy proved to be one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced, but also one of the most rewarding. It is nearly impossible to think of a better feeling than when a student is able to understand a concept after working with you – whether it is for a few minutes or a few Enrichment periods. The smiles on their faces and the pride in their achievements when they’ve done well are unforgettable. Just like the preschoolers and Special Olympians, the pride that students felt with their achievements is etched on my heart forever.

One of the most unique aspects of volunteering in Ms. Amira’s class is that the “tutoring” or “peer helping” isn’t just one way, it’s reciprocal. The free exchange of ideas that is possible in one-on-one or small group tutoring helps everyone involved in a variety of ways. For me personally, having to communicate clearly and effectively with a diverse group of students, oftentimes only minutes after being introduced, seemed initially to be very daunting. Throughout the time I have spent in Academic Support, however, I have overcome this challenge. I have grown tremendously as a person, not only because of the fact that I helped others, but because in turn, others helped me.

Serving as a student tutor required taking responsibility and, therefore, a leadership role, in regards to each student that I helped to succeed. In being a tutor, I took on the challenge of helping students to excel, especially in areas that they needed extra help in. Furthermore, some of the students required extra tutoring in order to grasp concepts necessary to complete their classes. My presence was oftentimes a reminder of their academic struggles, so I had to work to gain their trust. This entailed that I needed to help students feel that they were capable of doing the best work that they could do. Peer tutoring helped me to advance many skills vital in effective leaders, including clear communication and an unfailingly supportive nature. I feel it is important to reiterate the reciprocal nature of everything that occurred in Ms. Amira’s class – as I grew in these key skills, I made an effort to challenge my fellow students to grow as well. 

The lessons I learned growing up through giving back to my community have inspired me to seek out a college that values service to others along with academic achievement. Through “Saturday of Service” and “Jan Term”, I will be able to work in inner-city elementary schools, utilizing both my love of literacy and my skills in Spanish to communicate with as many students as possible. In addition, I hope to be able to volunteer in Saint Marys’ Center for Writing Across the Curriculum, furthering my love of peer tutoring and continuing to build on my communication and leadership skills.

Through all my studying, history has taught me to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty, regardless of the challenges. Through my years of volunteer experiences, whether working with children to gain a love of reading, tutoring my peers or encouraging the athletes of Special Olympics both here and in Mexico, I learned that a “shy girl” can find her voice in service to others. 

A personal story of hope

Michele Costantino

There are stories that we share with the world. Some that we share with friends and family. A few that we share with only the one closest to us. Every once and a while, there is a story that we keep to ourselves. There never seems to be good time to tell it and perhaps there is never the right person to tell it to.

This is my story from high school about hope in the darkness. I’ve never shared it with anyone and I suppose that I was waiting for the right time.

Once upon a time, I took an art class. I didn’t know anyone, so I just sat at a random table. There were four of us at the table and we rarely spoke to each other. Except for Grant McFann and I. We didn’t really speak as much as throw insults at the other’s artwork. We had a great time of it, he with his football player and me with my owl.

Grant and I took a few classes together my senior year, including physics and calculus. I remember him arguing for a half an hour with Mr. McPhee about how the M.C. Escher drawing was completely plausible. We competed with each other in calculus over who could do worse in the class. I usually won.

Senior year was hard for me on multiple levels. On one side I had AP Calculus. I had never failed at math in my life. I once read the whole LoTR trilogy in a summer math class and passed with flying colors. I was so unprepared for failure. This wasn’t just a low grade. I was actually failing, and even worse, I didn’t understand what was being taught. I still remember crying on the bathroom floor during class while some other girls asked if I was okay. It was very Sixteen Candles.

On the other side, there was my home life; hard in a whole different way. Each day was a luck of the draw on whether or not my mom would choose to berate my life choices. I would be called worthless, useless, a failure, the perfect child gone wrong and informed of my impending afterlife burning in hell.

Being the melodramatic teenager I’m sure I was, my life was over. The real problem with suicidal thoughts mixed with above average intelligence is knowing all the ways an attempt can go wrong and how much it can hurt. Being a person who likes to do things right the first time, paired with a low pain tolerance, means that while I would not attempt suicide, the thoughts plagued me every day. It was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other.

Throughout the darkness, there a small patches of light. A teacher going above and beyond to help me succeed. Being asked to prom, the first time I had ever been asked to a dance. These things don’t stop the depression entirely, but they lift the load from your shoulders for just a little while.

One day in art class, I was drowning in darkness again. Having finished my art project, I had started on some extra credit for calculus. As usual, I struggled to even understand the problems, let alone solve them. Being so wrapped up in my own drama, I’m not sure how much was visible to the outside world. Could anyone see me drowning?

I’ll never know if Grant knew how bad it was. We were never really friends, never saw each other outside of school. We didn’t have the same friends and we barely spoke in the classes we did share. But that day, he stopped while leaving class and offered me help. An act of kindness I never saw coming. I could have cried on the spot, but I think I was too stunned.

I’m not sure if Grant did it out of pity. Maybe he was helping someone who struggled like he did. Maybe it just wasn’t a big deal to him and he never thought of it again. I don’t know his motivation; I just know he saved me.

In the all-consuming darkness, he stopped and saw me. And instead of turning away and continuing on his day, he offered me a hand. For a short period of time, I remember being happy. The negative thoughts held at bay by an act of kindness.

Grant and I would never become best friends; there would be no passionate valedictorian speeches to show my gratitude. We would pass each other on campus and nod to the other with a slight smile. He would say hello to me in a Taco Bell where I struggled to make small talk while trying not blurt out my thanks for saving me.

I never told him how much it meant to me. I have spent 15 years trying to figure out how to thank him for what he did for me. A simple thank you seems so meaningless next to the magnitude of his simple gesture. I know that to him it was just a little math help, but to me, it was a gift that can’t really ever be repaid.

This story follows me to this day and it teaches me that helping people is not about the big things. People can be grateful for the smallest actions. Through this lens we know to feel gratitude for the small things in our life. Whether it’s being grateful for the perfect parking spot in the rain or thanking the stranger for holding the door, we can find something every day that makes us smile for a little while.

The "Controllables"

By Sierra Kaszubinski
University of Arizona

Life can be very difficult to maneuver at times. There are high points, and low points, and everything in-between. But, one of the best ways to refocus on life, is to not let the things you cannot control overpower you. It is rather a focus on the things that can be controlled, which can have a better impact on staying positive and reducing stress when life’s roller coaster seems like too much.

The strict definition of the statement “focus on things you can control” is an easy concept to grasp. It is a guide to turns one attention to things that you can change, favor, disregard etc. It is an elimination of the variability that life throws as being a source of stress, because if you do not pay attention to things that are out of your control, they no longer have power over you.   

It is a great way to think; focus on the “controllables.” Yet, accomplishing that mindset can be a whole different story. What are things that one can control versus not? A lot of the times, the thing that can be controlled is you. It’s how you look at the situation, how you put in the effort, and how you seize opportunities. It is your choices, not others’, that you can truly decide. Therefore, the objective of focusing on what you can control is a call to action on your mindset and decision making, more so than a disregard for things that cannot be controlled.

Again, a lot easier said than done. Yet, through my life experiences so far, I feel as though I have a good idea on how focusing on my mindset can change a situation for me.

One of the most important and most stressful times in my life was deciding on which college I wanted to go to. I had big dream; I wanted to go to the school with the best ballet program and best biology program I could find. I was an extremely driven and passionate dancer, having been in dance since I was two and continuing all the way to college. Also, I was an extremely hard working student. I had put in a ton of effort and managed to become the valedictorian of my high school. But for me, the huge stressor was deciding on a college that appealed to both of my loves. I picked three top schools: University of Indiana, University of Georgia, and University of Arizona. All had a pretty good mix of what I wanted- great academics and great ballet. I applied to all three, and made it into all three for academics. But the ballet, was a different story. Because I could not go and audition for Indiana, I didn’t really look like a serious candidate. I was accepted, but I was only offered a scholarship of 3,000 dollars for the enormous 40,000 out of state tuition. I was devastated, there was no way I could afford it. University of Georgia admitted me for both academics and ballet. I was ecstatic! The head of the dance program offered a scholarship for me being in the dance program, and I flew to Georgia to try out the program. Yet, it was not what I expected at all, and I couldn’t see myself dancing there. The ballet was not as serious as I assumed it would be, because there was a greater focus on other styles of dancing. Plus, none of the dancers or instructors were very friendly at all. The scholarship the dance department head had offered, was nowhere in sight. My last option, University of Arizona, had by far the best programs for science and ballet of any of the schools. I got accepted into the academic side, and now all I needed was the ballet side. I auditioned, everyone was so kind and helpful, and I thought I had a shot. This was my last option!

A few weeks later I got the call. I did not make it into the major, but still had a shot at the minor. I was crushed. My dream was the double major in ballet and biology, and that was no longer an option. I decided that a minor was better than nothing, and began college with a biology major in hopes to audition again for the ballet minor. Despite my good initial feelings about the program, I realized that the minor had a lot of flaws. I found myself not enjoying ballet as much as I used to, because the minor level classes were extremely different from the major level classes. That is when I made the decision to not pursue the ballet minor any longer, but continue ballet independently. 

This was the make or break time for me- I could either spend my college career in jest that I had not gotten my dream degrees, or I could make the best of what I had. I chose the latter. I threw myself into my biology major. I excelled in school, making a 4.0 for four semesters. I got involved in lab work on campus, and realized how much I loved it. I had decided, after strenuous research and experience in the lab, that I wanted to become a forensic scientist. Therefore, I joined the Criminal Justice Association at the university, and three years later, I am now the president.

Based off my story, the “focus on the things you can control” turned around my college experience. Despite the fact that my initial dream was not realized, I didn’t sulk about it. I couldn’t change my financial situation, and I couldn’t change the quality of the dance programs. I could only change me. I shifted my dream so that my biology major made me passionate and happy. I shifted my idea of ballet, as being perfect for my own independent expenditure, which took my mind of stressful classes.

No matter what life throws at you, it is your mindset which can change the situation. More opportunities can be had with a change in mindset, even if they are not what you originally expected. The only thing you can truly control is you, and a focus on that can bring positives out of negatives. That idea changed my life for the better.

The Power of Positive Thinking

by Annie Lawson

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.   -  Viktor E. Frankl

I have come to realize that this quote from Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, has provided me with truth and power to act in my own life. I read his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” when I was in high school. This book has changed my life and made me recognize that humans can go through horrific things and still show kindness, gratitude, and have a positive frame of mind. The power in positive thinking literally, saved Viktor’s life. I think it is easy to blame life, blame others, or even blame God when challenges come our way. Though some trials come through our own choices, I feel that this life is to learn and grow through those trials and help us become the best version of us because of those trials. It is all in how we choose to view the challenge and having a positive thought pattern can have drastic results in determining if something will make us bitter or make us better.

I recently saw an experiment with two jars filled with cooked rice and water.  One jar was talked to lovingly, given praise, and encouragement while the other jar was yelled at, put down, and talked to negatively. I was surprised to see after a two week period that the rice that was given positive words still was white and fluffy. The jar that only had negative words given was black, moldy, and almost a soupy substance. This experiment has impacted me with not only how I talk to others and my tone of voice, but also how I talk to myself. I feel that we can be our worst critics. Feeling our minds with all of our short comings, things we keep messing up on, and words of failure can do damage to our ability to improve and overcome and ultimately, stop trying. Likewise, positive thoughts and words about ourselves and our abilities can make an impact in what we can accomplish and our overall happiness.

There was a reality show called “Out of the Wild” that I enjoyed watching. 12 people with little survival skills were giving a crash course in surviving in the wild such as building shelters, catching and cooking food, and navigation skills. They then were given a rough map to help them reach their destination points, many of them over twelve miles away over a month period of time.  The participants had an option at any time to hit a red button and a helicopter would rescue and extract that participant out of the game. The participants didn’t know how long it would take them to get to the end goal and I think the not knowing was what many would struggle with. The conditions that they were in were extremely challenging to not having food for days, weather and lack of adequate shelter, and sheer exhaustion from rough terrain and walking great distances.

 I found it fascinating that the people that I thought would make it would be the ones that were more physically fit or seem to have a lot of confidence or skill. The surprising fact is the ones that made it through all of the difficulty and hardship were the ones that had a positive attitude. They were the ones that looked for a silver lining, had a good sense of humor, and tried to find joy in the journey. The power of positive thinking is such that can carry us all through many diverse situations and come out on top.

I’ve had my own experience with using positive thinking to get me through a challenge. My parents got divorced when I was in 8th grade. At the time, very few of my friends had single parents raising them or were dealing with the many emotions that come from a dissolved marriage of your parents. The first year after the divorce, my mom went on many dates late into the night to the point that my older sister had to wait up for her so that we knew she was safe. She was not a very present parent at that time and with only seeing my Dad every few weekends, my sisters and I had to fend for ourselves.

It would have been very easy to succumb to a “woe is me” frame of mind during this time. I felt very alone and confused, but there was always an undercurrent of hope, happiness, and chance to make something of who I was. I started exercising regularly, surrounded myself around positive people, and created goals for myself. I became active in service in my church and community. I feel because I had such positive things around me that it helped me to remain positive. I think part of a positive thinking came naturally and part I had to make a conscious choice to be. I know I would not be the person I am today because of that trial as well as my attitude and approach during it.  I’m so grateful for the things that I learned about myself during that time and see that a large part had to do with a positive outlook despite my circumstances. It gave me a sense that I can do hard things and not only can I survive, but I can thrive.

We are all given the option in every situation to respond with positiveity and power. I love the things I have learned from people like Vkitor and have seen many examples of what strength a positive attitude can be in others, shows, and experiments. Each trial and challenge puts us at a cross roads where we can choose to be bitter or to be better. My hope is that we will always choose to be better and improve through the power that comes with positive thinking.

The Law Of Attraction: The Difference Between What You Could See & Who You Couldn’t See.

by Kenyona R. Copeland

When I first heard about, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne
I couldn’t come to fathom why people all over the world was buying this book. With all due respect to this woman, she writes great stuff but I realized something greater than
reading another watered down version of a How-To book. The big secret was just her introducing The Law Of Attraction. I’d watched a lot of my friends and family read this book to agrees with almost everything she talked about, in this novel. I laughed sometimes, because I never saw something great come out of reading it. Everyone must’ve been reading this book as if it was God’s mouth-spoken promise of inheriting the Kingdom.
My “Law Of Attraction” wasn’t her book, at all. For
me, it was finding faith to believe in calling the
supernatural into existence. Speaking from the perspective of a being a struggling mother, who nearly went homeless during my second trimester –The secret didn’t help find me a roof over my head. Instead, it sent me back to New York, living the same painfully agonizing lifestyle that I was hoping so desperately to stray away from. And then before I could turn my head straight, enough to walk forward, another bad seed is planted against me. Now, I’m fighting to provide for my child, and to finish my education. I completed four years just to find out that on June 26, 2015 I finish school without a degree. My Bachelor’s Degree is then put on hold, due to an
outstanding balance of over $13,000.00. Please, someone
tell me where’s the secret in pulling something good out of
that? Instead, I choose to pray and see my future fifteen
years ahead from today.

My kind of Law Of Attraction is telling myself
everyday that I am great, even when I don’t feel great. I
stand in the mirror and I speak life over myself, even when it’s unclear to see. I am the Law Of Attraction, because no matter what good/bad things happen to me, still I attract it for one simply reason –I’m doing what I’m supposed to be. That’s the significance of life; it’s built around matrix. I said, “If you could just separate your emotions from your head, then you’d know that preparing for your success has nothing to do with how you feel.” Law Of Attraction had become something different for me, after realizing that attracting great things to me had a lot to do with selflessness in my own battles.

I believe in myself harder than the absence of a
drought in the rain. I will be where I’m supposed to in
life, with a better chance financially. And if the last
penny could do someone else greater than myself, I’m always up for the giving because some day there won’t be a shortage in sunshine, after the rain. I don’t tell myself
that I need this and I need that, but I speak the word
‘must’ so that my brain gets an understanding of what I
will not take for a ‘no’. The Law Of Attraction is the
pursuit of happiness, and what I keep myself from obtaining is the spirit of fear attacking my head and not my heart. I keep Law Of Attraction in mind, by forgiving those who’ve caused me minor setbacks for major comebacks. Usually it’s a tit-for-a-tat, but without me dishing out bad karma. If I’ve done anything to make a difference in my own life, I’d say I’ve spoken a new life over myself and have maintained a mentality of what it might mean to be durably fit. Solidity beats me into shape, when I’ve given all of my positive energy to possessing a new attitude. Never will you ever hear me say that I hate my life, because what so easily is given can be gone in a grain of sand. And sometimes, though I don’t feel good after being tormented by the spike balls that life tends to throw at me, still I stand and bare the hit.

I live by the faith in Law Of Attraction that when
it’s time to call forth a miracle, I will not squint my
eyes in hesitation to see the birth of a new era.
There were some irrelevant setbacks that did try to
make me believe that I was in many situations permanently: Like going back to New York to pay rent to live in a cold basement with an infant, or someone being in connection with the fraud of faxing in a death certificate, so that I couldn’t obtain my degree just to dodge the loans that I am partially responsible for. If money is the root of all happiness, there’s evil works in that. There are no limits, when it comes to how I choose to apply FAITH to my life; The Law Of Attraction is faith, but choosing to have it within ones own self.

The Law of  Attraction & Power of Positive Thinking: My life is great

by Ferry Fleurimond
University of Central Florida

I am full of joy, happiness, and excitement. My internal soul is as elevated as can be as I am in this very moment typing these words. Life is great and I expect and believe it to persist in such a way. I graduated high school with great achievements and one of the top students in my class. I've spent two years in Massachusetts serving others in order for them to live fulfilled, joyful lives. The last five years have brought abundance in unimaginable ways. I have encountered so many new friends through sports, school, and social events who makes life special. I graduated college in psychology with honors (top 5% of my class).

I have been accepted into one of the top Industrial-Organizational Psychology universities in the nation for their master's program. Most importantly, I've been offered a research assistantship position which allows me to receive a stipend, health insurance, and tuition waivers as I go through school. We've found an apartment in Florida and sold our current apartment on short notice. I found the love of my life on Thursday January 26th, 2012. We were married almost a year after such an eventful day on January 5th, 2013. After a year of trying, we are now expecting a healthy baby on October 19th of this year 2015. Let me reiterate, life is GREAT and my soul is vibrant and full of happiness.

But it wasn't always this way. In fact, life was poverty, scarcity, and disappointments. I was born and raised in Haiti with little opportunities. My mother had to move to the United States leaving her children behind when I was only four years old to seek better financial opportunities. As a result, I spent my childhood years not with my mother but lived with my grandmother, aunt, and eventually my father. To make a long story short, life WAS disappointments. I REMEMBER longing to be with my mother when others didn’t treat me well because I knew that my own mother would love me enough to care. I REMEMBER my father borrowing money from people—not the bank or credit cards because they didn’t exist for us—to feed us and send us to school. I REMEMBER my father telling me to tell those to whom he owed money that he wasn’t home. I REMEMBER being grateful for the free school lunches because that meant I would at least have something to eat in case there wasn’t anything at home. I REMEMBER crying and waiting for that day when I would be with my mother and everything would be okay.

That day did come to reunite with my mother. My siblings and I moved to Florida to live with mother on the 3rd of January 2001 BUT everything was not okay as I expected. In the eyes of a soon-to-be teenager—I was almost 13 years old at the time—the struggles just continued. On top of it all, I had to adjust to a new culture and learn a whole new, unfamiliar language. I thought it was supposed to be better in America, but that wasn’t the case. I watched my mother worked tirelessly—multiple jobs at times to keep her family of eight afloat. She worked days, nights, overtime, etc. She did whatever it took but it was always the same—we were just SURVIVING. I REMEMBER my mother worrying about where the money would come from at the end of the month to pay the rent and the other bills. I REMEMBER us settling for second best because we couldn’t afford anything better. I REMEMBER my mother doing all she could to get us new clothes and school supplies as the new school year approached. I REMEMBER wondering when and if this misery would ever end.

Despite all of these disappointments, starting as a little boy in Haiti and continued even in America, something inside me just kept me going. Why didn’t I surrender to victim city? Why is my life so full of happiness? Why are things going so great? I’ve now come to learn and know that what kept me going all of these years is ONE SIMPLE THING. It has allowed me to go from scarcity to abundance. It has allowed me to go from finite to infinite. It has allowed me to go from sadness to happiness. It has allowed me to go from worrisome to calmness. It has allowed me to go from limit to limitless. What is this ONE SIMPLE THING one might ask? Well, it is MY ATTITUDE. My mindset has kept me from being a victim. I would have remained in my recurring state, and continued to attract lack and scarcity in my life if I had given in to the victim mentality. But I never did. I know now and as a little child I knew internally without knowing explicitly that my attitude would determine my altitude. The mind is a powerful weapon; through it we will create our own reality. Your subconscious mind will go wherever you want it to go, whether scarcity or abundance. Whatever we focus on or send out will come back to us. This is the law of the harvest, and we will reap what we sow in our minds. I CHOSE to be positive. I CHOSE to be optimistic. I CHOSE to see the good that could come out of all my experiences. I CHOSE to be happy. I CHOSE to be successful at work, school, and life. I CHOSE to be great in life. I CHOOSE all of these things because I know that “whatever the mind of a man (and I’ll add woman) can conceive and believe, it will achieve.”

As I stated at the very beginning, I am full of joy, happiness, and excitement. My internal soul is as elevated as can be as I am in this very moment typing these words. Life is great and I expect and believe it to persist in such a way because that’s the path I CHOSE and that is my final CHOICE—I CHOOSE to have a great life. Regardless of the difficulties or obstacles I may face, I’ve already made my decision to see the opportunities out of them rather than to be a victim, focus on the bad, or complain. What do you want your life to be? What will you do when the unfortunate events happen in your life? What legacy do you want to leave for future generations? What will you CHOOSE? You are the only one who can answer these questions. NOT your feelings or emotions, I mean YOU have to make that CHOICE. You have to CHOOSE. However, I hope you join me, and CHOOSE the path of optimism, happiness, and abundance.

Dreams of a Giving Heart

by Nicole Sorensen

I have a dream of rising above my upbringing and shining light upon those who are growing up in similar situations by using my education. I believe that I used the law of attraction to get out of my situation combined with hard wrok. Growing up for me wasn’t your typical American upbringing. My mother was an alcoholic and drug addict who was mentally and verbally abusive. My dad had anger management issues. I grew up couch surfing at various friends’ homes and moved into boyfriends’ homes when I outwore my welcome at my friends’ houses. I traded babysitting and cleaning services for food, a roof over my head, and gas to get to and from school. I didn’t have the best of grades though out high school and into college because in addition to not having the basic items needed to thrive, I also have ADD. I am very intelligent but without additional help academically I struggle.

I managed to graduate from South Whidbey High School in 2011 at the age of 17 with around 40 college credits thanks to various kind people in the community. I continued to couch surf or occasionally sleep in my car until I turned 18. Though WISH I was able to move into a trailer that was falling apart with my cousin. I worked 3 jobs to save to get out of my situation. I worked a 40 hour job in Langley, a part-time job in Lynnwood, and watched various children in the early hours of the morning. This resulted in usually working 7 days a week with many days that were from 4 AM to 11 PM. I joined the Board of Directors for Ryan’s House for Youth so others would be able to get out of situations like mine.

Within a year, I had saved enough to move to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to be with my boyfriend, now husband. I gained a position as a manager within 4 hours of looking for a job in a restaurant with no previous restaurant experience. I moved to a restaurant with better morals where I earned Employee of the Month my first month working there. I even had my name on a plaque on the wall. I was so honored when my superiors and co-workers took the time to show recognition of my hard work that I cried. My husband went with me to counseling to help me get over my trust issues stemming from my childhood. This is where I realized what my purpose in life was. I knew I wanted to help others but I never knew exactly how I wanted to help.  After he got injured in the Army we moved back to beautiful Whidbey Island. Twelve hours after driving 3,013 miles across the county, I attended my first Board Meeting back with Ryan’s House for Youth.

I now work a 45 hour a week job, help care for my husband who is now an injured veteran, and I want to fulfill my dream and become a Mental Health Therapist to be able to help those who come through the doors at Ryan’s House for Youth. I have strong hopes for my future because I now have a strong support system and an academic plan that is compatible with my learning style.

Using the law of attraction I have focused on positive goanls; becoming successful, rising above my childhood, and helping others. With great gratitude, I have done just that. I need to finish school to complete my transformation and help others use the law of attraction to heal and overcome their situations. I have been volunteering for Ryan’s House for Youth since July, 2011. I have helped with many campaigns, events, organizing, strengthening our board, and even sleeping outside to help demonstrate to the public what our homeless youth go through. It brings me tears of joy and tears of sadness but I know that the sadness will be eventually replaced with triumph as we work through various obstacles. Everyone needs counseling at some point in their lives, the students who seek help from Ryan’s House for Youth are in need of extensive counseling and I feel that for me to educate myself in that field would be the greatest thing I could do to help. With the ease that others, including strangers, have opening up to me or even coming up to me and asking if they can cry on my shoulder, I feel I would be great in a position to truly help heal emotional scars. I dream of having my own practice so I can dedicate however much of proceeds I can afford to Ryan’s House for Youth because if I can stop others from not only feeling abandoned, unloved, and rejected but to help them learn the skills to be productive in today’s society, I will be living my dream.

Choices

by Jaime Warhurst

The Serenity Prayer is as follows: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”. I believe this simple prayer encompasses focusing on things that I can control. It is my further belief that having an attitude of gratitude and focusing on the things I can control are synonymous. 

For almost half of my life I walked around angry. A veritable ball of rage that would potentially lash out at any given time for any mundane reason. A rage that began with my first attempt at college. When a young person goes off to school, it is supposed to be a time of great celebration. A time when a new and exciting future is opened up to them. My time began and ended with me being brutally attacked and raped.

I made a choice when I was raped. I chose to be mad at the world. I chose to blame everyone and thing, including myself, for my rape and subsequent dealings with law enforcement. The disappointment I felt over my treatment by law enforcement and our judicial system led me down a path of destruction for the next 18 years. A path of my own making, and one that would take me further down than I ever even imagined. 

Setting out to break every single law as often as I possibly could led me to a life in and out of jail. Placed on probation time and time again, I never dealt with the root of my rage, only the consequences of it. I would run rampant through the world, being as a succubus on everyone and thing. My life, as it was, led to a climatic finish on interstate I-70 in Utah.

March 7, 2013 - the beginning of my end. In a standoff with over 30 law enforcement officials pointing a gun at my own head, I was at a literal and metaphysical crossroad. What could I control in my uncontrollable life? Whether or not I pulled the trigger. I was facing a lot of time and I knew that this was going to end in 1 of 2 ways. Death or jail. I’d been to jail so many times in the past that death seemed like the far better choice.

Addiction riddled my past. From the time I was raped, until I finally was stopped in my tracks. I used my addictions as a crutch, an excuse, to act how I wanted. I used my attack as an excuse for my addictions. Everything in my life had a justification behind it so that my choices would be condoned. I was in a vicious cycle of blame until I was forced to sit down and take a hard look at my life and choices.

During what I like to refer to as my “legal time-out period”, also known as prison, I learned that every single negative action I had taken since I was attacked was a choice. My choice, and I had no one to blame but myself for the mess I had found myself in. I also learned that I must focus on the here and now. The things I can control.  Myself. My choices. How I respond to the bad things that happen in life. It is a question of whether or not I am going to allow outside circumstances have priority over my self-worth and values. 

Whose fault is it when there is a storm and hail damages my house? No one’s, it just happens. Do I get mad and rage out at my family? My friends? The world? Absolutely not. I see it for what it is. Something unavoidable, beyond my control. I remind myself to be thankful that I even have this roof over my head to begin with. An attitude of gratitude for all circumstances in life, good and bad, are what I can control. The only “X” factor is myself. A tree will fall in my front yard, and will still be fallen regardless of how upset I am that it fell. Choosing to accept that I can either deal with the things of this life or fight them like a fish swimming upstream is the choice we are all faced with everyday.

Grattitude is Everything

By Amber Kinney

Throughout the years, so many of us were raised hearing the phrase, “attitude is everything.” What many of us did not hear, however, was that gratitude is everything. It is easy to insist on adopting a positive attitude, but I have a feeling that many people simply don’t know what that means. A positive attitude has many components, but I believe that gratitude is one of the most crucial. Having an attitude of gratitude is not just being grateful for what you have, but making that gratitude part of your daily life and your personality. Gratitude is not just being thankful for what one has, but also being thankful for what one has been spared from. Gratitude is more than a state of mind – it is a way of life.

            I, like many others, have struggled to adopt gratitude into my world and keep it there. Turning gratitude from a feeling into a lifestyle is the best way to reap its benefits, but this is certainly easier said than done. We live in a world where we are constantly being convinced that we need more of this, less of that, or something different. We see advertisements, we compare our lives to our neighbors, we look through the lens of the media into the lives of the world’s most fortunate. We have a holiday for giving thanks, which looks good on paper, but unfortunately perpetuates the idea that we need only be thankful one day out of the year. Gratitude is not a novel concept, but one can see how it struggles to thrive in our society. Indeed, it is all too natural to focus on what is wrong in our lives and ignore all that is right. This is not to say that we should ignore our problems; our struggles are very real, and should be acknowledged as such. Still, it is a great virtue to accept the things that dissatisfy us while also being thankful for the ways in which we are satisfied.

            The times where I was most unhappy were undoubtedly the times where I was most ungrateful. Understandably, the struggles that hurt me the most were the ones involving loss – the divorce of my parents, the loss of multiple long-term relationships… these are things that so many people experience, yet such events never fail to absolutely floor us. I remember during these times that all I could think about was the loss, that feeling of something being missing that could never be replaced. In those moments, I failed to recognize what I still had left. There was so much I could have been thankful for – the fact that I still had both my parents in my life, my relative privilege in the world, even just the fact that I was alive on this earth while so many others were not. Much later in life, I realized that when you are drowning in life’s sorrows, it is up to you to make your own life raft. We can look to others and accept the help we are offered, but in the end our fate is our own doing. One can choose to see the glass half empty, complaining and staring only into the negative space. Or, one can notice the empty space, acknowledge it, and move on to examining the beauty of whatever is left in the glass.

So the next time I encountered a challenge, when I found myself starting to wallow, I chose to be thankful instead. For example, when I found out that my Master’s program will not be funded, I was greatly discouraged at the idea of incurring more debt in addition to my loans from undergrad. The thought of owing tens of thousands of dollars to the government is terrifying, to say the least, especially when doing so is the only way to follow my dream of becoming a counselor. I worried about paying off my debt someday. I worried about how I would do it, if I could do it, and how long it would take. I worried knowing that my current loans were earning interest by the minute. I worried that my education might not be worth it. And of course, I silently cursed at how much easier things would be if I had been accepted to a funded graduate program, like so many of my friends. But this time, even with my anxiety at its peak, I knew I had to stop. I actually found that even though these worries were my reality, I was absolutely sick of thinking about things that way. Worrying constantly about things I could not change had become boring and utterly unhealthy. I worked hard in undergrad, I wanted to go to grad school, and now I was getting my wish! How ridiculous it was, for me to complain after getting exactly what I wanted. So instead, I chose to think of all the great things left in my life, from the enormous blessings to the simple things I took for granted. I am thankful that I was accepted to this program, that I’m able to qualify for loans, and that my parents will always support me emotionally, even though they cannot financially.

Having an attitude of gratitude won’t change your circumstances, but it will change you. While being grateful will not fund my graduate education, it will make me a better person, which I believe is priceless. I refuse to enter grad school this fall only thinking about the money it will cost me. I refuse to let that fact ruin my valuable time. If you think you’re unhappy now, wait until you see what focusing only on the negatives does to you. To truly be grateful, one must not expect gratitude to be a fix for one’s problems. Instead, one must internalize the practice of being grateful, until it becomes almost automatic. The act of accepting the way things are involves acknowledging the bad and the good alike. I am still learning to do this myself, but even practicing gratitude when I remember to do so makes all the difference. Gratitude allows us to let go of things we should no longer be holding on to. An attitude of gratitude removes the shackles of dissatisfaction, whether real or imagined, and sets us free.

Positive Thinking

By Wendy Miller

At the beginning of the move “The Secret” Rhonda Byrne describes all the way her life had been falling apart. After listing a few tragedies, such as her father’s death and the stress that her work life had caused her, she goes on to say “little did I know at the time, out of my greatest despair was to come the greatest gift. I’d been given a glimpse of a great Secret.” While many write this movie off as a scam, or a tacky self-help guide, this movie has had an incalculable impact on my life and the life of my family.

The message of the law of attraction came to my family in much the same way it came to Rhonda Byrne. My parents divorced, my mother was laid off from her job of over 10 years without warning, my father was arrested, our car was repossessed, and we had foreclosed on our house. Many of my mother’s friends dropped groceries off at our doorstep in the night, wanting to avoid the awkward conversation that would accompany such a kind gesture. We started selling our belongings to pay for hotel rooms to stay in and buy food. It seemed we had hit bottom.  It was a hard time for me, but I can’t imagine the pain and guilt my mom must have felt as a mother of four.

Then one night, in the bottom of a box of food left on our doorstep, we found the movie “The Secret”. We watched it as a family, all five of us gathered under the covers of the queen bed of our hotel room, and it took all of ten minutes before I saw the tears stream down my mother’s face. The impact that this kind gesture had on my mother has served my family far better than any food left on our doorstep.

My mother began to watch the movie every morning before going out to find work – to the point where all of us kids could quote basically the entire movie from memory. The progress was slow, but the results were incredible. Six years later: we live in a beautiful apartment in Berkeley, my mom is getting married to the man she has always dreamed of, and she has a stable government job that she loves at the UC Berkeley lab. Although our financial situation is still very tight, we have come so far, and are so grateful for even the most basic elements of our life.

While the movie goes on to encourage people to use their positive mental attitude to attract the things they want, the message my family has taken from the movie is a little different. To my family and me, the message of the law of attraction goes much deeper.  We don’t necessarily strive to be positive and grateful to get what we want, we strive to be this way for a better life in general. There are so many things happening in this world that we don’t have control over, but one thing you will always have control over is how you treat people, and how you react to the obstacles in your life. In our case, our struggles could have ended very differently. My mother could’ve decided that life had defeated her and given up, resorted to illegal ways to earn money. My siblings could’ve ended up in gangs, as the part of town we were hotel-living in was a pretty bad neighborhood. Instead, my mother stayed strong and stayed positive. With each small feat my family grew tighter, and more grateful and positive. The results speak for themselves.

                The fact is, when you choose to be positive, and hit your obstacles head-on with the knowledge that you will be successful, your whole life will be better. Your relationships with others will improve, your relationship with yourself will improve, and the way your life unfolds will be seen through rose colored lenses. With this, you will become an overall happier person, and even when life is throwing lemons at you, you will be able to handle it with a deft grace.

                Throughout my years in college, I have had no trouble securing jobs to help pay for my college. I consider myself incredibly lucky considering the unemployment rates in some parts of California are as high as 20%. While I am so grateful to have been able to support myself throughout college thus far, what I really want is to be able to enjoy my time in college without having to worry so much about the financial aspect of it. I don’t want to have to squeeze a class or two in between shifts when I can afford it every other semester; I want to squeeze a little bit of work when I can in between classes.

                My favorite author, John Irving, said “If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” Going to art school is my absolute dream; I can’t even explain how surreal it is to do exactly what I love to do every time I go to school.  Everything I have attracted to myself so far has helped me work toward this dream – the fact that a scholarship exists based on the very idea that changed the life of my family is incredible in and of itself. While my struggle is not a unique one in this economy, I believe it is unique to be able to take ownership of my own life and appreciate everything I am given. Sometimes these things take a lot of work, and a lot of essay writing, but it pretty much always pays off in the end.

Education and life goals

By Mary Cordle

Education and Life Goals
       In my younger years, there were three sisters and me that had a magnificent desire to attend college. In those days, there were limited opportunities for this venture.  As years went by, and the social and economic environment changed, the college opportunities became very widespread.  Corporations were beginning to rise, and their employees were required to have a college degree for a better job.  Colleges became more affordable and offered enhanced access to higher education.   I had worked at various jobs, volunteered at our local hospital, and established a coupon club in our community during the economic downturn.  I had been a member in our local Extension Clubs for ten years before making these decisions. I knew I needed to obtain my bachelor’s degree in management to be more efficient in my job maneuvers.
       One of my sisters had become depressed and did not get back school.  I had entered college in 2000 at our local campus of Bluefield Sate in West Virginia and had graduated with an AAS in Business Administration in 2006.  I had taken many college classes because I was so ambitious, but could not decide on a degree program. 
       As our dream began to unfold, our Mom died in 2002 just four months before a tragic death hit our younger sister that had been Mom’s caregiver. I was attending our local college and had stopped by to check on her when I discovered her death.  Just four months later, a neighbor that proved to be a stalker had been harassing my family members and informed them he was going to kill them in a short while.  He said he was going to kill his dogs then come for them, and that would be their sign to watch for him.  After three months, they were caught in a compromising position and shot at close range with a 30-30 rifle. He had been released from prison a short while before stalking began to overwhelm him.  He had been an inmate because of murdering two people in the past.  My sister’s future dreams and goals had just vanished.
       I knew I had to stay in school, but my mind had become fogged, and my outlook dismayed.  I knew if I dropped out of school, I might never return again.  While attending school, I was working part-time, was a caregiver to an elderly lady, and had developed pancreatitis in 2006.  I became deathly ill, and my doctors at UVA (University of Virginia Medical Center) had only given me a 50-50 chance of survival.  I had become sick and had to be transported to the hospital just about every week of that summer.  I always had to be taken off of food for two days each time I had this attack.  I was experiencing panic attacks from the prolonged use of anesthesia.  Finally, after several weekly attacks and various day surgery experiences my doctor gave me the news I did not have it anymore. With prayer and healing, I recovered within four years.  I realized by then I needed to obtain a bachelor’s degree to have even a slight chance of getting back into the workforce.  My husband had passed a bad attitude concerning college to my children. I had to change their attitude and show them the benefits of a good college education.  I was determined to get this accomplished.  Not only for my career enhancement, but also for an advocate for my children and others that needed further education.

Plan for Achieving These Goals
       My career goals are to get my degree, get back into the workforce, and set an example for my children and others for furthering their education.  My daughter has been working on a degree at the University of Phoenix for the last two years.  She obtained her AAS in Psychology after I began attending there.  I am now ready to graduate in June or July of 2015 with my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management if I get this scholarship.  This is my only option to pay for my finishing classes.
       I crave this desire to obtain my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.  I would like  to be an advocate for further education.  I desire to set an example for my children by proving the college experience can be rewarding. This degree will help get back into the workforce.  I implore you to; please help me to achieve my dreams and goals to graduate in 2015 with my Bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.

Why I Selected This Degree
       Over the years, I have been in the leadership position.  When working at our local hardware store I was in the management position on the weekends.  I established a local coupon club for our community during our economic family hardships.  I had been planning events in the family.  I had become accustomed to leading people in various programs at our local church.  For instance, VBS, my children’s church class I had established, and had worked with secretarial positions. I had created and developed church directories, flyers, and invitations.  For these reasons, I discovered I would be best in the management position.  I had to lead various work efforts before I saw myself for what I was becoming.

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DECEMBER 31, 2014 DEADLINE SUBMISSIONS BEGIN HERE.
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Achievement

By Amanda R.
UC Davis

In November 2008 I was violently mugged at gunpoint by three gang-affiliated males on my way to the library. The devastating event took its toll over the next few months as Post Traumatic Stress sunk its teeth into me and tore through my world. My support group shattered, my grades plunged, my gpa plummeted, my financial aid was cut, culminating in upaid fees and financial debt piled heavily.   I transferred to UCLA later that year to seek a specialist’s help for PTSD.  Upon my return to UC Davis, I had a falling out with my parents, when I choose to continue to pursue my education.  Suddenly independent, I returned back to Davis familyless and alone.  Thinking I could get my life back on track by returning, I was wrong.  Being unable to pay my outstanding fees nor receive financial aid due to my previous academic standing, I could hardly afford to live—let alone pay for school.  The crushing weight of this traumatic event pinned me down and prevented me from being able to provide for myself, causing me to drop out of school.   My mindset shifted from attending school to focusing on my survival and the dreaming stopped. In a bad economy nobody wanted to hire a 21 year old girl with zero job experience and no car. For the next 4 years, I would be locked into the system of debt.  After four years of struggling mentally and financially, I discovered my inner strength and grew to overcome, shedding myself of this weight, brick by brick. With all odds against me, 20,000 in debt, aggravated PTSD, no form of support, and struggling to eat, how was I able to do this?  By changing my thinking.

When I decided to come back to school I had no idea how tough it would be.  I had no money, no job and times were tough. I had no help, no support, aggravated and untreated PTSD and the outcome of everything was uncertain.  At times I really began like giving up. Then one day, it really sunk in that I was all that I had was me, that no help was coming.  I was the only one who could get myself out of my situation; that my destiny, despite the horrific actions that brought me there, solely relied on me.   Yes it would be hard, yes it would be tough, because the odds were stacked against me and there was very little that I could control, but I was the only way out.  The one thing that I did have control over was my mind.  It was in the way I chose to perceive things (changing this would be challenging because I did have PTSD).  It was in that moment in the school of hard knocks that I began to learn about the Law of Attraction. 

The Law of Attraction is the principle that what you seek and what you put out will come back to you.  If you speak positively and put out positivity into the world, the world will send positivity right back your way.  However, it is not that simple.  The law consists of the several principles that you must implement to see any effect.  The Law of Attraction consists of the power of vision, the power of spoken word and the power of thought.  In game planning how to get out of my situation, I realized I need to decided what I wanted- a goal- hence the power of vision.  The power of vision is keeping in mind what you want to achieve or where you want to end up, and working backwards from there.  More than anything, I wanted to go back to school, hence the solidification of my vision.  In order to go back to school, I needed money and with only a part-time job, living paycheck to paycheck and not much luck being hired anywhere else, this feat would be tough.

Learning finances were at the core and at the same time that there was little I could do, I was determined to make it work. So I began to look for any opportunity to save. If I was going to really make this happen I needed to have high discipline. It was through my struggle to survive that I learned the true value of a dollar. I chose to stop taking the bus and instead opted for walking a mile or two, saving one dollar at a time. I chose to eliminate the things I wanted, paying only for what I needed. I knew that the only way for me to return to school, was to use my insight to make effective changes. I taught myself how to budget, down to the last cent. How much was I making an hour AFTER tax? How much was I spending and on what? What can I live without?  There were times that this was extremely tough on me, but the way I kept myself strong was through learning to change my perspective, thinking, and speech.  I decided no matter how bad things got, to only speak what I wanted and only look for the positive aspects of my situation, hence the power of spoken word and the power of thought.   In learning to speak what I want and in a positive manner, I raised my self confidence and had more relaxed state of mind.  In learning to search for the positive in every situation, I learned to be grateful for what I had which in turn took a great deal of pressure and stress off my back and helped me pull through tough times.   Additionally I would keep my vision strong by posting a picture of the school above my bed, so that every night I could see what I was leaving to achieve. With financial self education, drive to overcome, and power of positive thinking, I gained the courage to walk into a bank and interview for a position as a teller with no job experience in finance. I was hired and instantly fell in love with my job.  Being something I was passionate about, I took every chance to educate people about their finances.

In March 2014 a break came and I finally secured for myself a solid second job. Seizing this golden opportunity, I loaded on as many hours as I could and worked 60-70 weekly for the entire summer with one goal in mind: return to school. With intense budgeting, highly unwavering discipline, and 5 appeals, I was able to pay off the fees and was reaccepted into UCDAVIS for Fall 2014.

Through the Power of Attraction and highly disciplined financial management I afforded myself the ability to return to school. Despite the last four years I was not enrolled, I feel more centered than ever.  I want to help other victims of trauma overcome their situations and emerge from the rubble stronger than ever; to understand their limitations and defeat them for even in adversity can we grow; I want them to realize that they are not alone. To just hold strong and we will fight through this together. To know they can and will get their life back. To show that our limitations lie in none. 

College is the place where my dreams may become concrete. As a full-time student who works two jobs as a means to survive, I am unable to partake in necessary activities that aid in educational development that can strengthen my pivotal role in the lives of others.  This scholarship will allow me the security and flexibility to partake, experience and grow.  It is my passport to travel, and not just stand, in the territory of college.

Master your own thoughts

By Amelia Jones
University of Central Florida

Service to others is definitely one of the most important personal development principles that there are, in my opinion, and it is one that is very close to my heart. Helping others is something that has always brought me great joy. Service is what makes a group of people a community. Community members help one another, allowing the world to run successfully. Service to others can be done in many different ways, from little gestures to big projects. Personally, I try to get involved in any service projects I can. Throughout my time in school I have participated in numerous service events and programs. Some of the most impactful projects I have been involved with have centered around children. Last year, I joined a program that allowed me to teach American Sign Language to kindergarten and first grade students at a local elementary school. It was very rewarding to work with the children and enrich their lives. I also volunteered to assist the high school Sign Language teachers with their classes. This last semester I was involved in a service learning program in which once a week I travelled to an inner city elementary school and worked with a class of first graders, teaching them valuable life lessons and instilling in them principles such as the importance of goal setting, how to interact with others and how to be successful throughout life. This was an amazing experience as I was able to make a real impact on these children. Most of the kids who attend the school I worked with were from an impoverished or low income area and did not have the best home lives. To provide further assistance to these children, the university I attend held a Thanksgiving food drive to allow the students and their families to have a Thanksgiving dinner that they may not have been able to have otherwise. I was especially touched by these kids, and in an effort to provide more for them than we could through the food drive, I contacted all of the local grocery stores and went through their various processes of requesting donations in hopes to provide Thanksgiving turkeys to the children. I received monetary donations from multiple grocers that were then used to buy more food so that we could reach even more families for the holidays. I find it especially important to work with children because I am not only able to provide service for them, but also instill in them the importance of serving others and how rewarding it truly can be. Now is a great time in my life to focus on helping young members of society because I am at an age that is still relatable to children, but old enough to be role model. By serving the children in my community, I am able to set the example for them to do the same in the future, furthering the cycle of service for future generations.

                In addition to my work with children, I also volunteered with my local chapter of Best Buddies. Best Buddies is an international organization that provides friendship and inclusion to individuals who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.  It was wonderful to be involved with the amazing individuals in the program and to be able to make a difference for them in their daily lives. I also had the opportunity to participate in a walk to benefit autism with the family of an autistic child that I cared for. I have also worked with organizations such as the National Beta Club, a service organization that strives to instill a passion for service and leadership in the youth of America.

I’ve also found that the small opportunities that we have on a daily basis to help others are just as important as the big efforts. Whether it’s donating a gift to a holiday drive, or donating money to the fundraiser at the grocery store, or purchasing a meal for someone who needs it, these little efforts are more important than we realize. Small gestures of service to those who need it can sometimes be life changing. I think the most important thing to remember when it comes to service is that no matter race, religion, gender, or ethnicity, we are all human and we must take care of one another. One of my favorite quotes in the entire world comes from Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” This quote perfectly sums up my feelings on service to others. Service is meant to be done not for credit or for the ego boost, but because it is our duty as human beings to help one another. Service is good that is done without expectation or hope for a reward. Providing happiness or making someone else’s life just a little easier is the goal of service to others. My hope is to use the life I have been given to make as much of a positive impact through service to others as I can, and inspire others to do the same.

Master your own thoughts

By Christina Joseph 

I am Christina Joseph. In 2008 my life and the life of my three young children changed drastically. As I spoke to the councilor at the shelter for battered women, I began to realize that I had the power to choose a better life for myself and my children. Living in a homeless shelter with my youngest daughter only four months old was challenging, but the freedom I began to find through changing my thinking made all the difference.

          I wanted to provide for my children a stable two parent home. The negative thinking, spurred on through the flourishing seeds of brokenness and resentment harbored by my children’s father were given center stage in the marital home. My thought process and daily goals consisted of: if I love this man enough he will intern go back to being the man he portrayed himself to be before we married. In essence I was deceived into thinking I could, through selfless devotion and servitude earn the love that is right of every bride. Daily life turned into a game of emotional Russian Rullet. Which personality was going to walk through the door? Was it the charming church goer who so many single women swooned over? Or the egotistical, dictatorial, and patriarchal man who emerged only hours after we said our vows. At the time I did not know how to verbalize the helplessness I was learning to become accustomed to. To pacify the aggressive nature of the man I married I had to back down from pursuing my education, my choice of clothing, city to live in, and control of my money. Like a frog in a pot of water, with the temperature rising little by little so it was with me. Each an attempt to control the choices of my husband but I was blind to the fact that I was his puppet. I surrendered my power to choose. I gave it up, progressively, but true to the course I became defeated in my mentality.

          After the birth of my third child, we all took a trip to visit my husband’s family in the Caribbean. There, the culture of family violence of which I was entirely naive to, became a blazing red flag in my sight. After a violent episode perpetrated by my husband towards his mother, my children, my husband, and I came back to the states. It was a matter of weeks before he threatened me with the same treatment if I didn’t get in line and listen to him. It was at this point, I started to awaken, and change my way of thinking. I had come face to face with the fact that my way of doing things had gotten me the polar opposite of what I was aiming for. By the end of the week, I took my children and I to a local women’s shelter. Although homeless, we were finally safe. The freedom from living in constant fear for our safety was a complete relief. Were we homeless? Yes. Did I have two children in diapers and one in kindergarten? Yes. Did I have answers about how all the detail of what to do next worked out? No. But what I did have was my freedom, and the peace of knowing if we were going to get hurt it was not going to be at the hands of my husband.

          This was the start of a shift in the fundamental way I thought. I awakened to the reality that as a mother I have a responsibility before God to first provide safety for my children. That my safety and there’s matter to God. I didn’t know it at the time but my self-image was very low. I did not have a positive self-image at all. But as time passed and I saw that I was capable of making right choices that produced positive results, thus I grew in my strength and confidence.

          Less than a month after I left, I was served divorce papers. Although this was a shock, it was a blessing dressed up as another heart ache. Within five months of leaving the women’s shelter I was enrolled in college, and my children started swimming lessons.

          Now, seven years later I look back and it is as though I am watching another’s life. I wish I could give my former self a hug. If I could give some advice to the old me, one important aspect I would focus on is to be the master of my own thoughts. I realize now, that I have the power to choose what I think. I use to believe that if I kept thinking about all the times I failed, that I would remember to improve. I now know to focus on the light not the darkness. I use to desperately try and search for some trace amount of light to praise about my children’s father, all the while in my mind I replayed the same tired track of my own short comings. Now I know, to be kind to myself.

As I continue through this journey that is life, I choose to educate myself on how to improve instead of ridiculing myself. I choose to stand in the light. Is there darkness in the world? Yes, this is undeniable. But the paradigm shift takes place when I make the choice, on purpose to focus on the light, and be a part of the light. Can I force another person to do the same? No. That is not my job. By putting practical steps into place to make my dreams a reality I am creating better moments in which to live. Now, as a free woman, I use all of my mind and heart. To survive in the environment that was my marriage I had to not live in the moment. I had to suppress that intuition that was my true self. As I went through the metamorphosis that has been the past seven years one of my montra was “No wasted moments.” This was the daily commitment to being present in the moment. Being a participant of my own life. Not allowing fear and shame to numb and mute me. I learned to forgive myself, and improve myself. The gift of brokenness as watered the seeds of hope. Rebuilding myself from the inside out has been a difficult but worthwhile endeavor.

Now, as a student in the Bachelor’s of Health Service Administration, being certified in electronic medical records, and pursuing my 501 C3 not for profit to help other women live in the light and my certifications as a personal trainer, I am proud of the life I am living. Each moment is a choice, and instead of signing out mentally I am signing in and loving it. Are there hard days? Of course, being a young single mother of three young children, a full time college student, part time employee and community volunteer create a lot of responsibility. But responsibility, as with life is a gift. As I stand in the light and choose daily to be grateful for the life that I have and the miracles around me both big and small; I often pause to breath in and thank God for the progress I’ve made and the process that is still taking place in me. I am encouraged, humbled, thankful, and hopeful as I continue to grow and demonstrate to my children and community how to do the same.

Understanding through personal experience

By Cassi Saunders 

I believe in the power of real-life experiences. I am only twenty years old, therefore, I have been in school practically my entire life. I have recently came to the conclusion that no matter how many lectures we sit through or the advice we receive, we rely heavily on our own real-life experiences to provide us with the knowledge we need. The following essay demonstrates the importance of real life experiences.

On September 28, 2004, at the age of 10, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This diagnosis launched my curiosity in medicine and the human body. After my diagnosis, I continued to be a very sickly child, visiting more specialists and primary care doctors at the age of 18 than most have seen in a lifetime. My experiences as a patient, primarily the patient-doctor relationships, have been my motivation to excel in school and in my community so that I can achieve my goal of becoming a physician. In order to achieve this goal, I am currently double majoring in biology and pre-medicine. I aspire to one day become a pediatric endocrinologist to treat kids, like myself, who suffer from type one diabetes. In order to be admitted into medical school, an applicant must have a four year bachelor’s degree with specific science courses under their belt. An admissions committee also reviews an applicant’s GPA and MCAT score. However, the admissions process has no requirement for an applicant to shadow a physician or gain any clinical hours. In my opinion, if an applicant does not have these experiences, then he or she cannot say with any certainty that a career as a physician is the best path to pursue.

I am very knowledgeable in various sciences; not only will I have a major in biology, I will also have a minor in chemistry. The many science classes I have taken have led me to understand the way in which our body systems interact with one another, the major chemical reactions that take place, how bacteria and viruses infect human cells, and how certain drugs function. Knowledge of these subjects will benefit me in medical school and I will also be able to apply them to my every day work as a physician. My undergraduate university has given me more than enough textual knowledge to succeed in medical school. However, being a physician is not just about knowing the science behind a disease and a way in which to treat it. A physician’s primary concern is their patient. Without real-life medical experiences, a pre-med student cannot gain an accurate feel for what the life of a physician is like.

Through my volunteer work I have discovered what it means to give back and how I can make a difference as a physician. I began volunteering at a local free clinic several months ago and will continue to serve there until I am admitted into medical school. The John P. Murray Community Care Clinic is situated in the rural town of Albemarle, North Carolina. When I first started volunteering there I wasn't really sure what to expect, but to my surprise, I fell in love with working at this free clinic. Not only have I gained real-world healthcare experience, but I have gained new insight into our healthcare system. Prior to starting at the clinic, I only had the opportunity to shadow at various doctor's offices and hospitals. Once I began at the clinic, I started to better understand the lack of medicine and physicians available to those without insurance and the unemployed. Through volunteering at the clinic each week, I have been privileged to watch many well-respected physicians donate their time to the members of their communities. The physicians receive absolutely no compensation other than the satisfaction that goes along with community service. These physicians have shown me the real meaning of making a difference. Not only do they work in a rural, under-served area, they also feel compelled to give back to their community. I am inspired week to week by the numerous physicians that have made a commitment to the John P. Murray Community Care Clinic. I one day hope to serve my community in the same way that they serve theirs.

My responsibilities at the clinic include checking patients in, taking their vitals, and assisting the nurses and doctors in whatever they need. I have seen first-hand a level of poverty that was once unknown to me. The patients that are seen at the John P. Murray Community Care Clinic are out of options and many would not receive any type of care if it was not for this clinic and the doctors that volunteer there. Some of these patients, have been sick and in need of medical attention for long periods of time but have not received any care due to the fact they cannot afford a trip to the doctor. I have seen tears in the eyes of the patients, many on their last straw, desperate for some relief. Having gained this experience shadowing various doctors for the last year and a half, my aspirations to attend medical school have held firm, only intensifying with every experience. Through my experiences I have come to the conclusion that not only can I fulfill my dream of being a physician, but I can also volunteer my time to give back and make a huge difference in the lives of others.

My experiences at the John P. Murray Community Care Clinic have shaped my future. Before volunteering there, I had no real knowledge of what life as a physician entailed. The classes that I have been required to take for admission into medical school have given me a very strong science background, but gave me no real world knowledge of what to expect as a practicing physician. My experiences in the clinic have given me a taste of what to expect, which has motivated me to really buckle down my junior and senior year of college. Sometimes a lecture on a particular subject does not do the subject justice. We can understand and give a more significant meaning to something when we go out and experience it on our own. My experiences in the clinic have shaped my understanding of how physicians treat problems more than any textbook or pre-medicine class could ever teach me.

Passion and responsibility in helping others

By Elizabeth Burroughs

We at Meadow Montessori School commit to challenge and empower one another to discover our unique talents and abilities so as a community of life-long learners we are inspired to serve humanity.

This mission statement of Meadow Montessori, my alma mater from preschool through high school, has shaped the young woman I have developed into today.  It has influenced my entire outlook on life.  During my fourteen years immersed in a Montessori education I have been able to cultivate three attributes necessary for a fulfilling and successful life: curiosity, concentration, and compassion.   I was not able to acquire these qualities effortlessly; Meadow taught me the importance of these attributes, but I had to put them into practice outside of the classroom.  Through numerous experiences, including a service trip to Belize, a local music event I participated in, and a farming trip in Maine, I have learned how to develop a hands-on approach to life--to see, to touch, to actively engage with the world around me. 
In ninth grade, as “servers of humanity,” my high school class decided to extend beyond the local community and embarked on a service trip to Belize.  I was able to test my leadership skills and establish friendships in a completely different and larger environment.  My class volunteered to build a concrete sidewalk and garbage pit, and to establish a recycling program for a local elementary school in an impoverished area of Belize. Upon arrival, I was astounded to see their schoolyard littered with garbage because they lacked a sufficient garbage disposal system.  In addition, almost all of the students went barefoot on a campus that had no sidewalks.  I was amazed to learn that when it rained, students had no choice but to walk through large mud pools and bring the mess with them into their classrooms.  
Part of the process of building the sidewalk and garbage enclosure included collecting water from a small, nearby stream to combine with the concrete mixture and manually “kneading” the mixture with shovels.  We then put the mixture in wheelbarrows, wheeled it to the dug out area, and shoveled and carefully spread it out evenly.  While the new sidewalk was being made, we also built a cement container to hold all of the school’s garbage.  The work to renovate their situation was challenging but very rewarding.  During our work breaks, we sang songs and played games with all of the students.  Soccer was the game that everyone gathered around to watch.  I remember so many students approaching us with hugs to thank us for not only improving their school, but being such good friends as well.  It was a wonderful feeling knowing that we were making a difference in their lives--and they were making a difference in our. 
            After that trip in ninth grade I looked for ways to remain a server of humanity.  As a volunteer, I tutored under-privileged elementary children in my hometown on a weekly basis.  In 2012, I was in a folk-rock band and our group volunteered to perform at a homeless shelter benefit concert held by my local community in Monroe, Michigan. As part of the Homelessness Awareness week, the goal of the concert was to educate the community on the local homeless situation, to assist in changing the perception people may have of homelessness, and to bring the community together to raise donations in blankets and money for the homeless community.  This annual event hopes to reduce, if not eliminate, homelessness in my town.  Monroe is only a small city nestled between the larger Michigan cities of Ann Arbor and Detroit, yet it has 119 homeless people--children as well as adults.  Before I participated in this event, I was completely unaware of this tragedy existing right around me.  I was committed to continuing my service efforts and building relationships with communities.
            During my first year in college I decided to utilize my service efforts as well as my love for nature in a wwoofing experience in Maine.  Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) organization’s goal is to establish a connection between visitors and organic farmers, facilitating an educational exchange and promoting the development of a global community that fosters ecological farming practices.  This past summer I traveled to a small town in Maine to work for a month on a small plant-based vegetable farm.   Daily tasks on the farm included soil prep, planting, mulching, weeding, watering and harvesting.  We built compost out of seaweed, leaves and spoiled hay that we gathered.  At one point, we had so many tomato seedlings that all of us on the farm decided to give the seedlings away to residents in the community.  In addition to working on that farm, I volunteered at two other farms as well as an animal sanctuary.   Not only did I learn and promote sustainable farming methods and lend assistance where help was needed, but I also built relationships with incredible people whom I still stay in contact with. 
            These experiences helped fuel my curiosity, concentration and compassion.  Through all of the service opportunities I have participated in I am consistently reminded of Meadow Montessori’s mission statement.  I have found a passion and responsibility in helping others and it is my personal mission to share my talents for the betterment of those around me. 

Put in the effort

By Ashley Rose

The developmental principle that I always remember is “you can do anything if you put in the effort”. That principle has held true all throughout my life, and it still holds true.  My dad has always told me “I can do anything as long as I put my mind to it” and I have. The results of fowling that principle show in my personal and school life.
            I’ve always wanted to learn guitar; I tried for years to get my mom to teach me, but all she gave me was a book I didn’t even know how to read the charts in. I didn’t know what string was which, what the different frets meant, or anything. I decided, finally, I’d teach myself all those things. In about three days I taught myself the strings, how to read tablature, and two songs (one of which is Come as You Are by Nirvana). There are many things in my personal life that I was able to do by keeping the principle “you can do anything if you punt in the effort” like ride a bike, but the biggest achievement was in school.
            In school, not much was expected of me; I have ADD and was put in special ed. classes and speech classes, because I accidentally cursed when I tried to say bench. But my dad kept on treating me like any other kid and I kept on trying my best at everything. By the time I entered 5th Grade I was in all regular classes and doing well in them too. In middle school (grades 6-8) I always had Honor Role. When I entered high school I went for Honors and AP classes; I started off a little rocky, but my dad kept on telling me I could do it. I kept in Honors and AP classes in Science, Social Studies, and English all throughout high school, even when I was doing poorly in some at certain times I kept pushing to do well. I still remember my classmates surprise when I was doing well in a class or did well on a test; I specifically remember senior year in English we had to write a 20 page research paper, I procrastinated on it because I’d get distracted but I finished it nonetheless. The day I got my paper back one of my classmates asked me what I got and I told them a 95, I would have gotten an 100 had I not forgotten to print my title page, and their response wasn’t what I expected; their response was “oh, we all thought you copied and pasted your paper”. Even in my senior year of high school I was looked down on as not good enough to do well, but I ended you graduating as a member of the BETA Club, Band, in high ranking in our schools Air Force Jr. ROTC unit, and as an Honor Graduate. All of that because I kept by the principle of “you can do anything if you put in the effort”.

Keeping your goals always present

By Kiera Grofsik
University of Central Florida

Plan, plan, plan, and plan some more. Sometimes, this is how life can be. Since I was a child, my mentors and the people around me have always emphasized making a plan for my career and following on that path until I achieve my ultimate goal. In my case, this ultimate goal is for me to have a Master’s Degree in Nursing.

This dream of mine is always in the back of my head and always tests my decision-making process. This goal is especially present when I decide to watch another episode of the show I’m currently interested in or to go out to dinner with my friends. During this time, I am thinking about how I should probably be focusing on my academics, the goal whispering thoughts in my head such as, “Do you really need to watch this episode again, haven’t you seen it already?” or “You have food at home, don’t waste time by going out to dinner.” Most of the time, I give in to my conscience, feeling a little disappointed as I eat my leftovers and afterwards bringing out my flashcards on the different cells of the body for my test that is coming up that week. Even though sometimes I do become discouraged and wish I could spend more time with my friends or relax a bit more, I feel that I am making a decision that will be best for me for my future.

This goal of earning my Master’s Degree does not require one simple step; rather, it requires many to eventually be able to be awarded this honor. I go through these steps and accomplish them monthly, and sometimes even weekly. Being accepted into the University of Central Florida was certainly the first big step. The Nursing program at my school is very highly regarded and difficult to be accepted into. I felt that this challenge would be beneficial to me while I am at the University completing my prerequisites. When I received my acceptance it was the first check off the long list of goals to eventually earn my Master’s Degree. Then, as I continued through school I was able to check more and more off my list to hopefully be accepted into the Nursing program at UCF. Being able to achieve all A’s in my prerequisites for Nursing school was a great accomplishment for me. I believe that I was able to do this by keeping my goals always in the back of my mind. I was able to do this by keeping a planner that helped me organize my schedule. Also, picking up a job in my freshman year of college helped me organize and better plan my schedule. Allowing some of my free time to be spent making outlines for the test the following week and creating flashcards has also been helpful. Having this planner and keeping my ultimate goal in my thought process really helped me be successful in my freshman year and continues to be a big help in my sophomore year of college.

As a sophomore, I find that it is much more difficult to balance my time. My main principle is to always keep my goals in mind and focus on these goals in order to achieve them. While in school, my college studies should be my number one priority. This is a topic that my friends and I often discuss. We all understand we have busy schedules and schoolwork always comes first. If we cannot spend time together that specific weekend, there will be plenty of other weekends to come after that to see one another. We are cognoscente students and that has always been a great energy to be around.

To always have your goal in mind can seem to be like you are forever on a guilt-trip, having your conscience remind you constantly of all the steps you must take to eventually reach that goal. For me, this is not necessarily the case. To have my goals present in my mind helps me make good choices.  An example of this is when I become discouraged if I cannot spend time with my friends or go to an event at night. When I am feeling this way, at the time, it seems that my goals should come easier and then I start thinking I am setting my standards too high. As I start thinking these thoughts, I remind myself to take a step back. I think about how much hard work I have put in to make it thus far, and not about the hard work that is ahead of me. I then think about my goal of getting my Masters, and know that I am able to achieve it. These nights that I spend hours upon hours of studying and preparing for my tests, will all be worth it and my hard work will be rewarded in the end. I will know that I have worked extremely hard for the goal I eventually reach.

Now, I am not saying to have your time and energy be completely consumed in this goal that you have; this is definitely not the way to go. Spending time with friends and family is very important to minimize stress levels and to even help you refocus on your goals. During my free time I will go to the movies with my friends or take a walk around campus or in a park. Sometimes, it is good to ignore your conscience and let yourself have a break. It is also very good to give yourself a rest before you decide to study or do some homework. Giving yourself that hour to relax after your day of classes to reenergize is always very helpful. For me, forming study groups with friends and then spending time together hanging out afterwards is always a great reward.

In conclusion, a great development principle that I have learned to use is to always keep my goals in mind. By doing this, I have been able to work hard and to enjoy the benefits of hard work. I know that if I continue to persevere, I will reach all of the goals that I have made for myself and be proud of the hard work I put in to help me achieve these goals. 

The power of positive thinking

By Luis Sosa
University of Texas

Personal development is a lifestyle that I was unaware of until very recently. Many people of whom I am surrounded by tend to be very negative. I was a part of the negative group. I would allow the negativity that was around me consume my positivity. Why? Well the people that I was around lived with the negativity as if nothing were wrong even though they were always looking to put a negative perspective on every obstacle. Being child at the time, negativity was all that I understood. I wanted to fit in a group, so being a part of the “negative individuals” was my only option. My negativity consumed me long enough to the point where I could no longer take being miserable all of the time. During this time I had finally decided to take my twin’s advice. She insisted on being more positive. I also met a person who always had at positive outlook in life. It was through this person that I was taught and understood the principles of personal development. Of course there are several principles about personal development, but there is only one that has made the most profound impact in my life. This principle is called “The Power of Positive Thinking.” I will describe what this principle means, how living with this principle has made an impact in my life, and I will discuss the importance of this principle.
            What does “The Power of Positive Thinking” even mean? Does positivity even have any power at all? Until just over a year ago, I did not understand what it meant or how it can affect an individual and their surroundings. It is to my understanding that an individual must have a positive mindset even though they are going through a rough time. It was until I met the person, who is now a very good friend of mine, which I began to read books about personal development. The books I read tend to relate about positive thinking. When something bad happens, people begin to think negatively. Why? Maybe it is because bad situations and negativity go hand to hand. Let me give an example of what I mean. When I was in my first year of college, I had very good grades, I was part of the honors program of my community college, and I was doing very well in balancing work and academics. However, after my first year, my grades were not as good as they were before, I was unable to balance work, and I was even removed from the honors program. What happened? Was I partying and hanging out with friends when I was supposed studying? No, I was actually working more to help my family make ends meet and even pay for the rising tuition costs. I was becoming frustrated when I would work thirty to fifty hours a week because I had a very hard time concentrating on my studies. After two years of this constant repetition, I had enough and I began to watch motivational videos on YouTube. This is when I met my friend. He encouraged me to read books about personal development. He shared with me information about having his own business and because of this; he informed that in order to succeed, he needed to have positive mindset. Positive thinking can affect the results a person is striving for. When I failed Math 2413 and University Physics 2425, I began to believe that I was not as smart as the other students. However, after talking with my friend and reading books, I retook the courses again before I could finally pass them with an A. I had to think and even believe in myself even though other people would suggest that I should change my major, because it was too difficult.
            Living with an understanding of a positive mindset, and going through my personal experience of retaking courses, I can say that having a positive attitude does in fact have power after all. I am not suggesting that it has a mystical power, but for a person who had a negative attitude and then changing it into a positive one, it is power that I did not know I had within me! If I would have never read personal development books, met my friend, or even listened to my twin’s advice, I would definitely not have even looked for scholarships. A few months ago I made the difficult decision of quitting my job. Why? I did not want to go back through the “negative cycle” of working countless hours for money that would not be enough for my college tuition. By keeping my job all I would lose are, study time, good grades, and time that could be spent on looking for scholarships. I risked my job knowing that I would not receive money, but after understanding the “Power of Positive Thinking,” I must believe that I will find scholarships to pay for my college tuition. Even if I am not awarded this scholarship, I will remain positive. I will neglect the negativity.
            Staying positive is very important to me, because even after graduating with my degree, I have even bigger plans. I want to start my own automotive company. Within my company, I want start an organization for students at all levels of education. I want to inspire students to work in groups and I want them to collaborate with new ideas of addressing certain issues. I plan to make this world a better place for future generations and hopefully inspire “future engineers.” I know that there will be people who will do everything in their power to stop me, but I must not let them stop me from achieving my goals. In order for me to overcome this difficult road ahead, I must keep a positive mindset. I must believe in myself when no one else will.
             After repeating the failed academic courses, reading and understanding “The Power of Positive Thinking,” I realize that I need to keep a positive mindset to keep trying again until I get the results that I desire. Living with a positive attitude has made me a different person because I took the risk of quitting my job in search for scholarships. Staying positive is very important to me, because I have bigger goals that will have even bigger obstacles that I must overcome. With the help of this scholarship, I will be a step closer towards achieving my dreams of leaving a legacy behind and making the world a better place. Nonetheless, I will remain positive whether or not I win this scholarship.

Beating the odds

By Risa Matsumaura

For the past four years, I have unintentionally lived by the Law of Attraction. It is an
idea that people and their thoughts are made from pure energy, very similar to the
placebo and nocebo effect where is the false idea that something is some type of
medical treatment, but actually is not. The Law of Attraction, in simpler terms, is
generated by thoughts that lead to the actions that an individual will take in life. Often
times when people start thinking about all the things that could go wrong, they are
soaking in so much negativity, making them anxious, fearful, and insecure, that it
leads to actions that are self-fulfilling and catastrophic. Instead of focusing on things
that one does not want in their life, he or she should shift their focus on things that
they want to happen in their lives. By applying the idea that an individual is in control
of the outcome of all things in his/her life, it can have a profound impact on their
everyday decision making process.
From personal experience, I was convinced for twelve years that medicine was the
only thing that could cure my headaches and migraines. Some of the symptoms that
came with my headaches and migraines were loss of vision, inability to talk or move,
lack of hearing and seizures. When I was later diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2013,
the doctors began prescribing me a variety of pills in hopes to reduce the
inflammation and irritation under my skull due to the tumor. Prior to my diagnosis, I
dealt with excruciating headaches and migraines and I often times could not get out
of bed for days. With time, my body became heavily reliant on the prescription
medicine. It was not until after my brain surgery in November of 2013 that I realized
my body had become immuned to the medication and that my body could no longer
accept the medicine I was taking, no matter how strong of a pill or how many doses I
was taking. Due to the severity of the pain, I began changing my diet, my exercises
and the amount of sleep I was getting, instead of hopelessly relying on medicine to
get rid of the pain. I knew at a very young age that I would never want to nor would I
ever allow myself to rely on medications for the rest of my life. Since then, I have
applied the law of attraction to my own experiences believing that if my headaches
and migraines can heal on its own with time, medications are absolutely useless to
me. Instead of relying on the medicine to relieve the pain, I began focusing my
energy and my time towards positive changes. Of course having to deal with the
physical, social and mental disabilities has been extremely difficult, but I would not
trade it for the world. It has taught me to see past my disabilities because I know
how much I am capable of despite the things that are holding me back. By teaching
my mind and body that I do not need to abuse medicine the way I had been for
thirteen years, I have been able to apply the Law of Attraction to my everyday
decision making process. Whether it be through academics or involvement on
campus, I know that I am in control of my future. If I want to see something different
in my life, I am the only person who can make that happen. For example, the classes
I had intended to take at the beginning of the semester during my first year of college
were not at all what I ended the semester with. Instead of dwelling on the fact that
my expectations of my first semester in college did not go as planned, I focussed on
improving on my study habits, finding interest in the courses I was taking, building
relationships with other students and the professors, and most importantly, being
able to apply what I learned in class to my everyday lifestyle. Looking back, I was
able to shift my energy towards something I wanted to see different, which was to
better understand my identity and my limits. I have learned to invest my energy and
my time into things that will help me rediscover my identity. The Law of Attraction
has allowed me to become a stronger, more independent individual since I have
begun college. I believe that the best way to apply the law of attraction is to always
hope for the best, and expect the worst.

Learning through the setbacks

By Kiara Brown

In a general sense, personal development means to do things that help you find yourself and your strengths and weaknesses. It is being able to fully develop your talent and harnessing your true potential. Personal development is a lifelong process of honing your various skills and assessing your qualities, good and bad. Another part of this concept is setting life goals for yourself and growing up into the person that you want to be. But, what exactly does personal development mean to me? To me, personal development is being able to grow into your own skin and become the person that you envision yourself being. It is being able to not succumb to the obstacles that life throws your way. It is about you hardships and turning them into something more, something positive and constructive. This is something that I know very well. I have been dealt many hardships that have made me into the person that I am today. When people hear my story, they look at me in awe and tell me how they would have given up so long ago if they were in my shoes. They respect me for pulling myself up and carrying on. I titled this essay “learning through setbacks” because that is what I have been doing for years. And although my troubles have not completely subsided, I continue to pull through and internalize it in a way that makes me want to do better and be a better person.

Growing up was not easy. I was raised in a home riddled with dysfunction and drama. It seemed as if I would never make it out. My father was controlling, narcissistic, demanding, and above all, abusive. His words burned and his hits bruised my skin and my heart. My parents were always fighting and getting into huge arguments that left me and my younger brothers trembling with fear. My parents’ failing relationship turned my mother into an alcoholic and she still has yet to recover. For a short period of time in 2008, my parents decided to divorce. In that time, my brothers and I lived with my mother. This experience is partially the reason that I am who I am today.  Living with my mother while the divorce was in action, was a terrible experience that I will be plagued with for the rest of my life. She was extremely abusive and I spent many nights crying myself to sleep. The constant fear and confusion kept me on my toes. I felt as if I was walking on eggshells. I thought that with my dad out of the house, things would be okay. I thought there would be no more abuse and I would have nothing to worry about. I could not have been more wrong. It was a complete disaster. This was the year that I decided that I wanted to become a psychologist. I knew from that point on that I wanted to help people deal with their issues and not become my mother. I also wanted to help people to not feel as hopeless and afraid as I did on a daily basis.

The thing about abuse is that it follows you. No matter how old or how stable you’ve become, there’s always going to be a dark feeling lurking around in the back of your mind. Only brought out by familiar cues, like the sound of screaming. This is the past reminding you that you’ll never be whole again. A reminder that the memories are still there, slowly eating away at the furthest region of your brain. No one will understand why it hurts so much. No one will understand why your shield are instantly at the highest of functioning. They won’t get why their tone has suddenly made you feel like the same child you once were, hiding from the harsh hand of life. The only ones that will ever truly understand are those who have seen the same pain. Broken eyes never fail to recognize another set of destroyed pupils. There’s no cure for the broken. No amount of glue and positive regard can reform the shape of what used to be. The only hope of construction management is to figure out a way to channel the emptiness into something better. Something less hopeless. For me, it’s the euphoria from helping those just as broken as I was. No one has the same cracks, no one has exactly the same pieces missing. But somehow all of the missing pieces come together. Fitting as one, like the most perfect puzzle. The only puzzle built in chaos to truly make sense.

Personal development is the fact that I realize when it is time to let go and move on from the thing that hurt the most. I am choosing to go to school and make something of myself and one day help other people. I have overcome my hardships by continuing to follow my dreams and better myself and become soothing more than my problems. I have grown into someone that I can be proud of and I am on the path I have laid out for myself. And as I continue to grow, I will be able to make a difference and help people in need.

Service

By Amelia Jones
University of Central Florida

Service to others is definitely one of the most important personal development principles that there are, in my opinion, and it is one that is very close to my heart. Helping others is something that has always brought me great joy. Service is what makes a group of people a community. Community members help one another, allowing the world to run successfully. Service to others can be done in many different ways, from little gestures to big projects. Personally, I try to get involved in any service projects I can. Throughout my time in school I have participated in numerous service events and programs. Some of the most impactful projects I have been involved with have centered around children. Last year, I joined a program that allowed me to teach American Sign Language to kindergarten and first grade students at a local elementary school. It was very rewarding to work with the children and enrich their lives. I also volunteered to assist the high school Sign Language teachers with their classes. This last semester I was involved in a service learning program in which once a week I travelled to an inner city elementary school and worked with a class of first graders, teaching them valuable life lessons and instilling in them principles such as the importance of goal setting, how to interact with others and how to be successful throughout life. This was an amazing experience as I was able to make a real impact on these children. Most of the kids who attend the school I worked with were from an impoverished or low income area and did not have the best home lives. To provide further assistance to these children, the university I attend held a Thanksgiving food drive to allow the students and their families to have a Thanksgiving dinner that they may not have been able to have otherwise. I was especially touched by these kids, and in an effort to provide more for them than we could through the food drive, I contacted all of the local grocery stores and went through their various processes of requesting donations in hopes to provide Thanksgiving turkeys to the children. I received monetary donations from multiple grocers that were then used to buy more food so that we could reach even more families for the holidays. I find it especially important to work with children because I am not only able to provide service for them, but also instill in them the importance of serving others and how rewarding it truly can be. Now is a great time in my life to focus on helping young members of society because I am at an age that is still relatable to children, but old enough to be role model. By serving the children in my community, I am able to set the example for them to do the same in the future, furthering the cycle of service for future generations.

                In addition to my work with children, I also volunteered with my local chapter of Best Buddies. Best Buddies is an international organization that provides friendship and inclusion to individuals who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.  It was wonderful to be involved with the amazing individuals in the program and to be able to make a difference for them in their daily lives. I also had the opportunity to participate in a walk to benefit autism with the family of an autistic child that I cared for. I have also worked with organizations such as the National Beta Club, a service organization that strives to instill a passion for service and leadership in the youth of America.

I’ve also found that the small opportunities that we have on a daily basis to help others are just as important as the big efforts. Whether it’s donating a gift to a holiday drive, or donating money to the fundraiser at the grocery store, or purchasing a meal for someone who needs it, these little efforts are more important than we realize. Small gestures of service to those who need it can sometimes be life changing. I think the most important thing to remember when it comes to service is that no matter race, religion, gender, or ethnicity, we are all human and we must take care of one another. One of my favorite quotes in the entire world comes from Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” This quote perfectly sums up my feelings on service to others. Service is meant to be done not for credit or for the ego boost, but because it is our duty as human beings to help one another. Service is good that is done without expectation or hope for a reward. Providing happiness or making someone else’s life just a little easier is the goal of service to others. My hope is to use the life I have been given to make as much of a positive impact through service to others as I can, and inspire others to do the same.

Success seeking

By Kate Linsley

            You dream big, you stay positive and work through the trials, and then you succeed. That statement sums up attaining success, but it doesn't explain the full picture. Achieving your goals usually starts with a dream, yet I've come to realize that there there is lot more in between the dream and the realization of it. Sometimes you don't succeed or, at least, you don't find success in the time frame you were aiming to achieve it in. There have been a lot of ups and downs in my own life and quite a few times where I couldn't tell if I was even going anywhere. More than anything else, I've started to notice that success is an ongoing process that I continue to learn more about each day. 
            I have been at college for over a year now, and I have never worked so hard in my life at reaching my goals than during this past year at college. I've learned how to make goals that I actually achieve and how to continue moving forward even when it becomes a struggle. The main thing I have taken from my experiences is to trust in my future. This idea does not mean I believe everything will be easy and work out just how I want it to be. It is the idea that when I focus on taking control in my life and put in my share of work, I can achieve my goals. It takes a lot more effort than just believing. Believing is only the start. It is the motivation needed to actually work on my goals consistently. Like any kind of trust, my trust in the future is built up through working towards and appreciating the small successes, and learning from the times when I fail.
        &nbs