Highlands High School
Senior? Yes
Elite top 100? Yes
Letters of recommendation: Letter of Recommendation 1, Letter of Recommendation 2
The community is a very important aspect in my life. The community I live in is absolutely amazing. We have a bond that is shown in so many ways. In fact, in 2017 my father passed away just nine days before Christmas and the community pulled together and helped my family in so many ways; especially to help ensure that Christmas was still able to happen for my family and I. I will never be able to repay my community in full, but I have done things to benefit my community. I have been a Girl Scout since Kindergarten. I have done a lot of community service projects and events with Girl Scouts. The most important events that I have done are the events to earn my Bronze, Silver and Gold Award. For my Bronze award my troop held an event for the community that explained the importance of the eras that came before us. It opened the eyes of the community to the history that we come from as well as the way America and the world has been shaped from its past. For my Silver Award my troop and I held an event for the young girls in the community. We worked with them to teach them how to become a young adult, as well as the importance of women empowerment. My most important event that I am currently completing is my Gold Award. For my Gold Award I created a program called Holiday 365 to benefit the families in my community that are in need. For Holiday 365, I collect toys, food, clothing and other necessary items for families in my community that struggle during the holidays. This past Christmas I was able to assist 86 families in my community, as well as the local HOPE Center and AVAC Center. This event is so rewarding, because it allows me to provide families in my community with items that are needed to ensure that their holidays are enjoyable. I know how it feels to be broken especially around the holidays, so if I can impact someone’s life in even the slightest way to try to prevent the feeling of sadness, it fills me with joy. I have also assisted the community through school with National Honor Society, as well as Student Council. For National Honor Society I have helped collect toys for Stuff-A-Bus, served at luncheons for the elders in our community, as well as participated in Spring Sanity; which is an event that we hold to raise money for a non-profit of our choice. Also for Student Council I have assisted with school events, as well as our collections for patients with cancer. We collected items for these individuals and then made them care bags for when they are going through chemotherapy and radiation. Through these events I have been able to express to people that even though things may not be perfect at this time, there is no need to give up the dreams and passions you wish to achieve. Everything is achievable in some capacity but only if you believe in yourself. All of these events and acts of service for my community have changed me in many ways.They have taught me to be grateful and appreciate everything I have, because there are people who are less fortunate than I. I am grateful for the community I live in and I am glad that I can give back to the community and ensure that they achieve their dreams and are impacted positively in their lives.
Overall, my community is very important to me. I value everything that I engage in and I believe that I have made an impact in some ways by doing just that. There is so much positivity and goodness in this world and it just takes small acts of dedication and commitment for these things to shine through.
I would like to thank the people at Trib Total Media for taking their time to read this and review my application.
~Marissa Callender