"Two people who inspired me when I was younger are definitely my mom and my dad. They went through a lot just to keep my siblings happy and together, and also just making sure we had what we needed, even when it was a struggle. Something I am passionate about is definitely helping the younger generation, also helping people in healthcare. Something that I want to pursue, I want to become a pediatric doctor, hopefully, a surgeon in the future. That's the end goal. Playing sports helps me stay motivated. It just keeps me moving and out of my head, because you don't really think a lot when you're playing sports. I play soccer. I played soccer for three years. I play softball, basketball. I do a lot. I just do everything."

"Some changes I would like to see in my community is, one being less violence. A lot of black on black violence. I don't find it to be very motivating at all. I also want black people having more college opportunities, more black people going to college and having access to education, as well as access to athletic equipment and different sports. Being able to try new things and just explore what you like, so that we can all have a future and all be a community and be together. In the future, I would like to be a dermatologist, and I have hopes of going to a pristine college and studying pre med. Something that helps me stay motivated is just thinking about the future and where I want to be in my life. I understand that I have a lot of goals for myself that I want to set, and I hold myself to a very high standard. So just thinking about where I want my end goal to be, I know I'm always going to stay motivated to get there in the long term."

"Hi, I'm Ava. One achievement I'm the most proud of is making second team all pubs as a freshman last year. I want to pursue a career in law. It doesn't matter what type of law, but I'm very interested in civics and law and policy. One thing that pushes me is thinking about the future and what could happen if I keep pushing myself to the end goal. I wake up around six o'clock in the morning, and I get ready for school, and I leave the house around seven. I arrive at school. Go throughout my school day. If I have a game, I leave around six period, and I have my game from about like three to five, or three to six, and then I'll go home, shower, eat, do my homework and get in bed by around like 10pm or 11pm."

"Ever since I was four, I have always danced. My mother always says she thought I was going to be a ballerina because I always walked around the house on my tippy-toes. I never went to dance school for it though. I remember watching Angelina Ballerina and mimicking the moves that she did. This was the start of something beautiful. I taught myself how to dance by watching my favorite dancers as well as incorporating my own style into the art. As I grew, I became interested in the Hip-Hop and Ballroom scene. I guess you could say I fell out of love with Ballet, but I have acquired a different mindset recently. I am taking Dance 1 at Carver this year, and we are learning Ballet right now. I became excited because I hope that one day I can turn my hobby into a profession. Even though I am better at certain styles, my goal is to be a well-rounded dancer so that I can incorporate all dance elements into my choreographies. Dancing lets me express myself, and it helps me to blow off steam. As a dancer, I entertain people. I can make you feel all types of emotion. I can make you feel mad if I Krump. I can make you feel like your watching a fashion show if I Vogue. I can get you hype if I Break. I can make you happy or sad if I dance Contemporary. That’s why I love dance."

"My favorite hobby is playing video games. This is because my life is very busy between sports and school and what little time i have to myself i like to spend it playing video games because it makes me feel like I control the world and I have an impact on what happens in the game."

"I think that remote learning is a little easier than in person learning. Since I don’t have to travel 45 minutes to and from school everyday, plus traveling to any extracurricular activities that I may have, I am able to have some free time to do relaxing things like watching TV or taking a nap. This method of learning is also helpful to me because I have more freedom for extracurricular activities. If we were able to go to the school building, like nothing happened, I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to join the Black Student Union’s Arts and Culture Committee. However, I can admit that remote learning can be difficult in the sense of staring at a computer screen all day because it makes me tired. Also, since there’s no in class interaction, listening to teachers speak adds to the difficulty of staying awake. On the other hand, my homework load isn’t as crazy as it could’ve been, which also makes it easy to have extra time on my hands."

"I've accomplished a lot of things that's I'm proud of since Covid hit. I've gotten back into learning Korean, which I haven't done in years. And, this time allowed me to get close with old friends again. I never would've expected to be so close with someone I had just met in 8th grade but now me and her are more connected than I expected.There were some negative things as well. I lost a lot of friends, but as bittersweet as it is I'm glad I did. Covid helped me realize people's true colors and intentions. I feel like if Covid wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't have found out all of this about these people. It opened eyes to how some people truly are. I'm thankful for it despite hating being at home all the time."

"Admire: the word itself should be cherished. It sounds so peaceful to the ears, and anyone could use it. Someone I admire myself would be my older brother. He’s definitely my role model for everything, and I tell everyone about him when they ask me that question. So every time i see the words “Admire, role model, hero” etc, my first thought is him, without a doubt."

"My favorite hobby by far would have to be photography. It's so relaxing to do and gives me very good vibes. I feel at peace with my camera. Ever since 6th grade I've been taking photos. And, in a year of having my camera, my skills have gotten way better. Taking photos will always be a passion of mine even when I get old and start working. Maybe one day I'll even pass the camera down. My goal, for now, would be yearbook club and taking photos for Ms. Swift so they can put them up on the website. It feels good to see someone smile after getting their photo taken. My fondest memory would be adding to my advisories time capsule. Ms. Ruby even let me take her photo and it came out beautifully. Having the camera helped me talk to more people and come out of my shell in high school."

"My favorite animal is a shark. It can be any shark, really. Great whites, Threshers, Wobbegong, Cookie Cutters, you name the species, I love it. I love them because they are just misunderstood. I spoke to a 6 year old the other day and she showed me a picture of a great white and said that she was a monster. That really hit me hard because sharks are my passion. It's what I want to study for the rest of my life! I just couldn't believe that somebody told her that sharks are monsters, because I feel like kids won't say something unless they hear it from someone else. These days, the word "shark" has become to mean something completely different to the general public than what it actually means. Whenever someone hears "shark" they automatically think "teeth. monster. death." Whenever I hear shark, I think about how they effortlessly move through the water and about their diversity and complexity when it comes to their looks. Sharks are living beings too. We should start treating them with the respect that they deserve."