I am interested in joining Marshall YAC because I care for our communities. I want to use my time at Marshall Pubic Schools for the better to help create a positive impact on both the Marshall and Albion communities. I also want to be able to have a say in things that affect the youth of the communities. I would like to get the youth more involved in giving back to the Marshall and Albion communities. I heard of YAC in 2022 from a relative. This year I have been a member of Albion's YAC. As a person, I think I can bring many good qualities to Marshall's YAC. To start, I am an open minded person. I take in all opinions and look at them from all perspectives before I make a decision. I am also very responsible. If I am given a task, I will give that task 110% of my effort to complete it to the best of my ability. I have also been told by many students and teachers that I am a compassionate person, which is something that I consider to be scarce in today's youth. Some of the most important qualities for YAC that I have is that I am a listener before I am a talker and that I am a person that sees something in need of fixing and always wants to help. Being a listener before a talker can be very good for during meetings or making decisions. YAC is all about creating change and helping the communities, so I believe I should be a part of YAC because I know I can not only create a change in our communities, but also a positive impact.

To me community service means loyalty, sacrifice, and kindness. To sacrifice time out of your day to help the community shows great loyalty to that community and demonstrates kindness. When I was younger I was taught how to swim through students on the Albion swim team. Their commitment to helping me really shows me that there are good people in the world. As I grew up, I became a part of Girl Scouts and participated in many community service acts. These acts not only gave me a purpose, but brought me closer to my community and strengthened our connection.

A major issue in Marshall's youth is academic pressure. Academic pressure from parents and teachers can cause copious amounts of stress and can lead to mental health problems. From my experience, academic pressure caused me to question my self worth if I got a bad grade on a test and caused me to become sleep deprived from staying up so late studying. This needs to change. I think parents should have a meeting to discuss appropriate and positive language to use to encourage their children and what to say/do when their children ask for academic help. I think that teachers should also encourage kids more and let kids know that it's okay to ask for help. Councillors can call students in individually at a point in the school year to discuss grades and offer support if it's needed. I wouldn't hold an assembly for this issue because I know that students would not only not pay attention, but also not take it seriously. Kids need to know that it's okay to not have highest honors or a 4.0 GPA. Sure, a 4.0 and all A's is something we should aim for, but it's okay to not achieve this. I also think teachers should hold after school help times for students to come in and ask questions without feeling embarrassed. I think that all of these actions combined would be a great start in combating academic pressure in Marshall.

If accepted, I will put this responsibility first. Extra-curricular activities that might interfere include dance at 360 Dance Company, marching band performances/practices, and National Honors Society meetings/volunteering opportunities. If accepted I will always try to put this first. If that's not an option, I will let you know as ahead of time as possible and will find a way to get caught up on things discussed, decided, planned, etc.

Yes, in 2022.