What do I bring? 

Courage 

What did I take a picture of? 

YCP Green Rock against the Sky 

What does it represent and how does it connect to me? 

The sky, to me, represents the infinite possibilities that exist under the sky; hence the quote “the sky's the limit”. You can truly achieve anything you want to, or what you set your mind to. However, sometimes, in order to start this process, a person would often need something, like a little push. The rock, in a way, represents a challenge. At first glance of the photograph, it seems like a super steep mountain that doesn’t seem to be climbable. The intricate details of the rock is each step of a challenge that one must overcome. The rock was given to us during the ceremony for the class of 2026. This rock represents the challenges that we all must face, as well as overcome in order for us to sign our names on this rock. In a way, this unites the entirety of the class of 2026 under a common goal. While some people are successful at the get-go, others need a little bit of courage, and that’s where this photo’s true meaning appears. I define courage as “the ability to do something that doesn’t seem like it’s doable”. In this sense, it is possible to spread this courage, to transfer a bit of your own courage to someone else. A time in my life when this occurred to me was when my parents first took me to the beach. For a while, my father held my hand as I practiced swimming in order to start building the foundation of being able to swim. More and more trips to the beach, and hand-held training sessions, he decided that one day, he believed it was enough training and would test me. It went about like a normal training session, however, as I had my face under the water, I didn‘t see the wave approaching us. He saw it and let go of my hand, to avoid the wave, leaving me in the middle. As the wave hit me, I began to struggle, forgetting everything that I did, and struggling to swim. My dad proceeded to yell out some words of encouragement, and before I knew it, I was making the same motions that I was when I had my dad practicing with me. Once I looked up, I saw that I managed to swim a little bit away from my original position. With this story, I wholeheartedly believe that a little bit of courage can go a long way. This tiny bit of courage allows people to climb up this rock, this challenge, in order to reach the summit, the infinite possibilities that exist under the blue sky.