Throughout my life I have always been praised for how independent I am because I have always been motivated on my own. My parents never held my hand to get my homework done throughout elementary school, and once middle school came, they were enticing me away from my desk by the smell of fresh baked cookies. In high school, I didn’t want to miss a thing. I quickly got involved in several organizations, and became president of three of them by my senior year. I spent way more time than the average athlete at the cheerleading gym or at the field coaching my 5 grade cheerleading team. Some students can say they scraped by with the bare minimum in high school, but that’s just not me as I am always eager to take on more. Now that I am at one of the largest schools in Georgia, it’s just my Lily Pulitzer agenda and I taking on the world.

Although I seem bubbly and confident on the outside, I have struggled throughout much of my life due to bullying. We moved a couple of times across the country during critical stages of my childhood. From Connecticut to Arizona at the start of first grade and then from Arizona to Georgia at the start of seventh grade. I was always the outsider. In first grade, I struggled to find my new friend group because everyone had already established their groups the previous year in Kindergarten. I even gave up my animal crackers on several accounts to the “cool kids” for an opportunity to be involved in their game of tag on the playground. On top of it all, I looked and talked different. I didn’t have a strong northern accent, but it was easy to tell I wasn’t from Arizona. Also by second grade after losing both my front teeth, my adult teeth grew in, but like a jack-o-lantern. I was also taller than everyone my age, which didn’t last long, but I was the freak of nature in my class. I needed support from my family and close friends to make it through the bullying and tough times of my childhood. Fortunately, I could flourish with the support I received instead of crumble under all the pressure. My support system has increased over the years, and now it includes my family, my boyfriend, some of my close high school teachers, and now 240+ Delta Gamma sorority sisters. Although I am independent and self-motivated, I often reflect on the quote: “Even the strongest person breaks down sometimes.”, and luckily I have an amazing support system to catch me when I fall.